Center For Creative Growth

Give them a shot. I was first referred by a recommendation on Berkeley Parents Network and have had only positive experiences with Jason Saffer and Daniel Lesny.

Strongly recommend steering clear of Jason and his groups. He seems more motivated by money than basic professional, ethical care. It was so bad I almost complained to the MFT board (didn’t only to avoid possibly ever having to deal with him again). Sorry to write such a downer! Please just check out other therapists instead — lots of good ones around!

I am so sorry to say this, but The Center for Creative growth has blown their credibility with me, and I am so sad to be saying that.
My overall experience with them is that they will not have your back and will not work with you if problems in your life come up and they will omit important information, either deliberately or due to administrative ineptitude. Their behaviors towards me in this circumstance did not line up with their mission. It was chaotic, deceitful, unprofessional and unacceptable for people who are a business of Licensed Counselors. I would strongly suggest anyone apprehensive of them NOT go and opt for other alternatives in the Bay Area. In my opinion based on my experience, you would be better served elsewhere.
I had been one of the first people to sign up for their 20 Week Intensive Course this January. I had done an intake with the group leader Daniel Lesney. I had put down 156 dollars. I was deeply looking forward to doing the work with them, Daniel Lesney strikes me as one who is very capable of facilitating that kind of inner work. Due to previous experiences in other groups, I was apprehensive, but hopeful because I knew he effectiveness and power of John Bradshaw’s work.
Anyways, the March 15^th start date was pushed back to April 12^th due to lack of participants, I decided to stay on. The disaster I experienced happened at the last minute. I was experiencing financial troubles a week or so back, and I was fretting if I was going to be able to pay it. I had signed up for the extended pay plan (which they have, and I give them credit for that).
I called Daniel Lesney on April 11^th about my concerns and I was passed off to Jason Saffer, who refused my participation while WITHHOLDING THE FACT that I did have a 156 dollar deposit (I was under stress, I had forgotten and I was entitled to know that.) I had a space available and I was paid up for a month, which would have been more than enough time to take care of the troubles that I was having. After enough muckraking I was offered by Jason to discuss things with Daniel or another counselor at the center. When contacted by Daniel ONLY THEN was I informed that I had a 156 dollar deposit (please message me, I have the Email) that would be then used to have a consultation with him. I got very serious at that point, threatening to file complaints about him, Jason Saffer and The Center for Creative Growth to here, the BBB, and to the State of California. Only then was I granted a time to speak with Daniel to talk about differences.
This is why I am still posting after having spoken with Daniel. I had been patient in waiting past their delayed start date the program and had a deposit down. Only at the last minute when I had expressed concerns in a distressed state, all hell had broken lose, they hid the fact that I was paid a month in advance, dropped me from the course and took someone else off the wait list. They do have a first come first serve basis, and I was one of the first for this winter. If they had not withheld the fact that I had 156 dollars down as a deposit for the first month and that I was paid for the month, I would have been fine moving forward. They did not. They abandoned and abused me as a participant, keeping me on to keep their program going open and cutting me loose, in a very deceitful fashion, at the first sign of trouble a day before an after I had waited loyally for four months. I will not remove this post until I am sufficiently certain that nothing like this happens to ANYBODY like that again.
Good luck with your experience with them, as far as it goes with Unilocal reviews, it looks like you’ve got ³⁄₂ odds and certainly the rewards of success must certainly outweigh the risks. I wish you the best in your recovery. You deserve the best treatment possible.

Personally, I did not have a good experience there. I worked with a therapist named Jason Safer in both group and individual therapy. I went there for two years and my experience at the time was this therapist lacked the skills to hold space for intense emotional expression, deal with the phenomena of transference around charged issues, or to facilitate the kind of healing that can come through actually walking through a traumatic experience/​emotional state with a skilled guide to create a new experience. My experience was that my trauma was reinforced by some very specific behaviors on the part of this therapist. I would primarily issue a word of caution: If you really do have trauma in your background, tread carefully and try to get an accurate assessment from the get go. Since therapy is very individual, everyone can have a different experience. Personally mine there was more hurtful than helpful.

Where do I start? Totally unprofessional treatment.
Below is email I sent in response to being ‘released’ as a patient by the therapist leaving me a recorded message.
— — — — — — — — — Beginning of email — — — — — — — — — — — —
«Dear Blank (Therapist name),
I just received your message where you discussed with your supervisor releasing me as a patient due to the fact that you are not trained with the treatment of OCD which is an anxiety disorder. I have had this condition since the very beginning of our sessions, at least 5 months now.
So after 5 months of therapy I am being released for a condition that you say you did not know I had? Really?
I am very disappointed that you and your supervisor chose to release me OVER THE TELEPHONE VIA A RECORDED MESSAGE in the «saving of my, time, money & energy» aspect of doing this on the phone and not in person. This is a very traumatic event for me to switch therapists in mid-​stream. It is also, in my opinion, very unprofessional to do it in a recorded telephone message without first asking me if this would be OK. I put my trust in your as my therapist and I feel very let down.
You say you are releasing me because your area of expertise is not in anxiety disorders. Really? Your disclaimer below states that you are in fact able to treat anxiety disorders. You lied.
I filled out all the patient information forms with my diagnosis and with medications. You say you do not have the forms? I have been in therapy there for at least 5 months. Why hasn’t this been brought up before?
It is unfortunate that we should end our therapy at this point and it is also unfortunate that your supervisor (Jason Shaffer) would handle this in such an unprofessional way. The appropriate way would have been to triage me and give me a choice of staying with you or being released. Since you are unable and unwilling to give me the medical care that I need, I will seek help elsewhere.
I will not refer anyone to your business and you should be sanctioned by the licensing agency of the State of California for what you did.
I feel let down and very disappointed.
— — — — — — — — — –End of email — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
Bottom Line:
If you think it is OK to be treated this way, then you should go here and be abused.
This place is a John Bradshaw model of therapy. They just want your money and don’t give a damn about you.
My advice: FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR/​CLINIC. THESE FOLKS COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT YOU.

It took me ruining my relationship with the woman of my dreams to make me finally realize just how out of control my life had become. I was 35, my life was a wreck, and I had never experienced any kind of therapy because I was highly suspicious and distrusting of «shrinks». Nevertheless, in early 2005 I decided to start the CfCG 20-​week Group Intensive Program (overseen by Daniel Lesny) and it was a decision that most likely saved my life. The program was cathartic, healing, and remarkably educational. It not only gave me a much deeper insight into my own personal psychology but also a tremendous understanding of human behaviors and motivations in general.
Back then I could hardly afford to pay the modest cost of this program yet in retrospect it was the wisest investment I ever made. The fact that the CfCG staff were flexible and helped me figure out a payment plan I could manage was not only an act of incredible benevolence but also demonstrated their own certainty that they could help me fix what was going wrong. When Daniel interviewed me he was completely honest and told me their program could not fix _​everything_​wrong with my life in just 6 months and I would likely find that I would want to continue the therapy process on my own after the program was complete. But he assured me that I would undergo a major transformation in that 6 months and I would leave as a much happier and emotionally healthy person. He was absolutely right!
The 20 week program required participating in some very difficult work during one of the roughest periods of my life as I was dredging up a lot of ugly memories that I had not successfully dealt with in 20 years or more. But by the time I completed the program I was much better equipped to stop my self destructive lifestyle and co-​dependent relationships. I had finally reconciled my feelings and beliefs about events in my childhood which had helped to steer me down some dark roads as an adult. Once my past was truly left behind me my future became brighter than ever. I was soon inspired to make a bold career change which has paid off in many ways I never even imagined. I have gained greater control over my life and far better skills for setting boundaries and avoiding cycles of co-​dependency and pointless negativity from others.
I will forever be indebted to the good people at The Center for Creative Growth. A 5 star rating just doesn’t do them proper justice.

The Center for Creative Growth (CCG) is a wonderful organization that provides counseling services. I was in a place in my life… feeling «stuck» describes it most simply. I just read somewhere — «We’ve all got our stuff… might as well unpack!»
All of the CCG professionals I’ve had the pleasure to interact with have been amazing in terms of their compassion and skill. Daniel Lesny, especially, was phenomenal in the workshop setting… really applying a creative approach to helping me move into and through the growth needed to get unstuck and ultimately to unpack.