Dr. Mark John Souris, PhD

If you want a counselor who will listen and nod, this is not your guy. He's talkative; he's also insightful and incisive, yet empathetic and encouraging. Issues will be quickly laid bare and left for you to deal with, with his guidance. Often our sessions ended with his asking what the takeaway is, which I liked. I've had several therapists over the decades, and Dr. Souris has been the most direct, challenging, and efficient. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but he was great for me.

I have been through many psychologists and Dr. Souris remains the best! He is professional, empathetic, and extremely helpful throughout the entirety of my treatment! Genuinely one of the best psychologists I have seen!

Do not waste your time on this arrogant therapist. A simple human error, faxing paperwork to the wrong number, resulted in him refusing to work with us as clients! You can’t make this stuff up. He took it personally that we didn’t have the desire to work with him or something. My God can you imagine the passing of judgement this guy would give as a couples counselor?! That’s horrifying. This guy has more psychological issues than the patients he’s treating lol. Stay away.

I saw Dr. Souris for several months for my depression and chose him because of his training and experience. I was very impressed with his range of knowledge. I was also very impressed by his conscientiousness and thoroughness as a psychologist who took the time to really listen and gather information about me so that he could understand my problems. He discussed his initial impressions with me (after what he called an "intake"). He always asked me for feedback and made me feel accountable for my life during therapy. He showed me that we have goals to achieve in our time together which was different for me since most of my past therapists were passive. (I got no where with their silent head nods and when they would just "agree" with me and never challenge what I was thinking or doing). I appreciated Dr. Souris's direct style of communicating, which helped me to understand that my thoughts needed to be tweaked in a more healthy (and what he would call, "realistic and valid")… direction. I was taking antidepressants for many years before I started therapy with Dr. Souris. He and my psychiatrist agreed that I have been able to use the skills that Dr. Souris has taught me to combat my depression, without additional help from my medication. I feel much better about myself, certainly stronger, and much more self-confident. My marriage is also much improved and my family and friends notice positive changes in me. Dr. Souris is truly a knowledgeable, thorough, and effective psychologist and I thank him dearly for helping me.

I saw Dr. Souris for several months for my depression and chose him because of his training and experience. I was very impressed with his range of knowledge. I was also very impressed by his conscientiousness and thoroughness as a psychologist who took the time to really listen and gather information about me so that he could understand my problems. He discussed his initial impressions with me (after what he called an "intake"). He always asked me for feedback and made me feel accountable for my life during therapy. He showed me that we have goals to achieve in our time together which was different for me since most of my past therapists were passive. (I got no where with their silent head nods and when they would just "agree" with me and never challenge what I was thinking or doing). I appreciated Dr. Souris's direct style of communicating, which helped me to understand that my thoughts needed to be tweaked in a more healthy (and what he would call, "realistic and valid")… direction. I was taking antidepressants for many years before I started therapy with Dr. Souris. He and my psychiatrist agreed that I have been able to use the skills that Dr. Souris has taught me to combat my depression, without additional help from my medication. I feel much better about myself, certainly stronger, and much more self-confident. My marriage is also much improved and my family and friends notice positive changes in me. Dr. Souris is truly a knowledgeable, thorough, and effective psychologist and I thank him dearly for helping me.

Compromised the therapeutic relationship on the 3rd visit over a $20 copay issue which despite my presenting evidence and a phone number for him to verify I was correct he remained insistent. Then used psychobabble to accuse me of sabotaging my therapeutic process over money. All this while on the clock of my session. Also inappropriately handled a phone call to my office rather than call on my cell phone over the same $20. Pretentious, arrogant and unprofessional!

I want to thank Dr. Souris for his wisdom and guidance. He has helped me during the most difficult time of my life to "truly see" how I was defeating myself. I didn't really want to look inside or hear what I might find out about myself in therapy when I first met him; but the combination of his empathy, broad range of knowledge, objectivity, and candid demeanor helped me to "break-through" the barrier of my defenses. I have seen other therapists, mostly psychologists, and looking back at my experiences, I now believe that they have only "enabled" me, telling me "only what I wanted to hear," ultimately leading me to "repeat" my painful past. Dr. Souris has corrected that destructive pattern in my life and I am most grateful! He is the best psychologist that I have met and worked with.

Dr. Souris is one of the BEST psychologists I've seen. He listens thoroughly and has helped me see my problems in a way I would have never thought of. Definitely recommend!!

The reviewer who found Mark Souris to be condescending described only the tip of the iceberg. First, he loves to hear himself talk. Your session will be spent mostly with him pontificating. Second, he is sexist and ignorant. In our first session, as he was gathering basic information, he insisted that I must be misleading him about not having used drugs for no other reason than that I went to graduate school at UC Berkeley. I'll put my PhD from Berkeley up against his PsyD from Pepperdine any day. But, more to the point, if I were a man telling him that I had a doctorate from Berkeley, I suspect he would accord that achievement due respect rather than claiming that it evidences a history of drug use. I complained to my individual therapist about Souris' behavior and the therapist confirmed that he had received similar complaints from another female client of his whom he had referred to Souris.

I met with Dr. Souris over the course of a few weeks while in the midst of a crisis and found him tremendously helpful. I would highly recommend the good doctor, his opinions are totally worth it.