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About

Associated Counseling Services

You’ll always have someone to talk to at Associated Counseling Services if you are looking for individual, couple’s, or family counseling. Associated Counseling Services’ center is located in San Leandro, CA and helps people in the surrounding areas, including Dublin, Hayward, Oakland, and Alameda, CA. We also serve worldwide clients via online chat. Since 1996, we have offered the highest quality care and support to our clients. Associated Counseling Services ensures you feel like a friend and family member by growing and learning with you. Get the compassionate care you deserve by contacting us today.

Vaughn Baker

Vaughn Baker is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and his goal is to help you establish awareness and connection to be fully present in this lifetime.

Vaughn Baker Associated Counseling ServicesVaughn will help you integrate your mind, body, and spirit through all of life’s situations.  Through his empathic and caring approach, he invites you to begin a dialogue with him as your therapist and more importantly, to create a conversation with yourself.  Vaughn works to facilitate care and trust, which allows you to address your thoughts, challenge your feelings, share your emotions, explore the interpretations of external perceptions, and channel your beliefs to begin your healing process. Vaughn’s philosophy starts with establishing a warm and safe environment moving into resolving issues whether long-term or situational. He lays the foundation for personal reflection and the ability to be honest with yourself.

As a therapist, Vaughn works from a cognitive behavioral systems approach. However, he thoroughly understands that no theory can address the many issues which plague people’s lives, which can include aspects of ethnicity, culture, sexuality, gender, race, age, social-economy, or any of the many other differences people have. With this in mind, Vaughn will work with you to establish the method which best suits your specific needs. Everyone experiences moments in their lives when help or support is needed, whether it’s facing issues dealing with families, intimate relationships, individual personal problems, or maybe it’s something of a spiritual nature.  No matter what it might be Vaughn is here to support you in your specific counseling demands while working with you on your terms to ensure the love and support you need. Vaughn is a military veteran who enjoys serving people, helping families and counseling individuals.

What Vaughn's Clients Are Saying​

"The guidance and support that Vaughn has given me has helped me grow in ways I never could have imagined. I learned more about how to "heal" myself than any other therapist I had seen before. Vaughn provided a space for me to be comfortable and REALLY listened to me, what I needed in the moment and pushed me to see different perspectives in a gentle yet firm way. Like a masterful sports coach, he has guided me based on my moves, my actions and my body language. He pushes me get in tune with the power of my mind, my heart and my soul.
My daily quality of life has improved because of the work I have done with Vaughn. My relationships are getting stronger, I feel more alive, confident and joyful. His services are truly a gift to our community and I am extremely grateful for all the work he has done with me."
Sara Rousseve
"Vaughn Baker is a rare individual. He understands the troubles that so many of us have in life, and he can put himself in that place and truly understand. His empathy is outstanding and obvious, not hidden under a cloak of supposed neutrality. At the same time, he understands the misconceptions that so many of us have, the excuses we give ourselves, and he is patient and persistent in helping us to understand ourselves better, and to find better ways of responding in the world. He helps clients very compassionately to see the errors of their thinking, but in a way that puts him at their side helping them, not on the other side of the line working against them. He has a rare ability to cut through the excuses we use for ourselves and to help us see ourselves through the eyes of a skilled, sympathetic observer.
Vaughn is a professional with a professional's knowledge and discipline. While he brings his personality to his work, he infuses that personality with the skill that comes from persistent study and immersion in the spirit of his profession. He is not afraid to reflect back on his own life for situations and feelings similar to his clients'.
In short, Vaughn exemplifies the best of his profession, personal caring merged with high ethics, detailed knowledge, and patient understanding. I could not recommend Vaughn more highly."
Budd N. Shenkin, MD
Pediatrician (retired), Berkeley, CA
"Vaughn was very easy to talk to and he created a very safe and comfortable environment for me. He was able to help me uncover some deeply rooted issues from my childhood that helped give me perspective on my current relationships. I highly recommend!"
Kiarra
"I have been working with Vaughn for the past two years on issues of anger and learning how to manage my thoughts and feelings when angry. I am 64 now and really wish I had met Vaughn earlier as his insights and observation are invaluable. He never allows me get away with answers that are not from my heart. I still have anger problems but with Vaughn's help I have learned to use the anger and not let it use me. I am lucky I have Vaughn in my life as he is a great coach. He always lets me figure stuff out. Vaughn will tell you it's not always easy to do. I would recommend Vaughn to any friend or family member on how to deal with anger constructively."
Mike L.
"Vaughn was assigned to me through the school district about 1 1/2 years ago due to my son with special needs. He is very professional yet very easy to talk to and feel comfortable with. He has helped in many ways with ideas and or just being a good listener when I’ve needed one. He truly cares about people and is always looking to help in any way and to make the world a better place."
Eden R.
"Some years ago, I came to know Vaughn Baker through his ability to reach into the darkest parts of my depression and confusion in my life. I can now say unequivocally that with out Vaughns patient, calm and persistent therapy I would not be in the positive light from which I write this letter of recommendation. Vaughn has a unique ability that transcends the usual education that guides therapy. His capable listening skills in particular and his memory of where we have been, to tie the ends together and present the story back to me was the untying of the knot, the source of my depression that he so accurately lead me away from. I am forever in Vaughn Baker’s debt for being there for me, with professional skills and personal connectivity, he is truly a miracle worker. I now can say, I know Vaughn as friend and fellow human being and that he guided me to this wonderful place in my life. Truly thank you Vaughn."
Brian Reagan