The second half is still yours to shape
Therapy for gay men in the second half of life.
Depression, anxiety, grief, illness, and what comes next — San Diego and online across California.
You don't have to have the words for it.
Maybe something happened — a serious diagnosis, a loss, retirement, or a relationship that isn't working the way it once did.
Or maybe nothing happened, and that's what's strange: your life looks fine from the outside, and still the joy has gone out of things — the flatness, the worry humming under ordinary days, the sense that nothing quite reaches you the way it used to.
Whichever it is, what you're feeling is real. It's not a weakness, and it's not just this age — it's common in this season, and it responds to the right kind of attention.
My Specialties
Depression & Anxiety
The flatness, the 3 a.m. dread, the heaviness with no obvious source — when nothing is exactly wrong, and it still won't lift.
Living With Illness
Cancer, heart disease, dementia, a new diagnosis, or a condition you've managed for years — support for the whole of what you're carrying, not just the medical part.
Living With HIV
Long-term survival, aging with HIV, serostatus, and intimacy — the particular weight your generation carries, understood without having to explain it.
For Partners
When the man you love is ill, it changes things for you, too. A place to be honest about the strain, and to stay connected through it.
A Different Kind of Therapy
This is a small, private, depth-oriented practice. Not quick fixes, but thoughtful work that meets the real complexity of what you're going through — with a therapist who understands what this season asks of you and the realities of being a gay man.
The practical part, briefly.
Office located in Bankers Hill for in-person sessions, or online anywhere in California.
I'm a participating provider with traditional Medicare, and clients who have it usually pay little or nothing out of pocket.
If you have a PPO plan, I’ve partnered with Mentaya to handle filing your out-of-network claims for you. They’ll manage the paperwork and submit claims so you can get partial reimbursement from your insurance without the hassle — letting you focus on your health while they take care of the details.
I'm Bob Basque, LCSW
I'm a member of the generation I work with.
I came of age during the AIDS crisis, carried what those years asked us to carry, and found in therapy somewhere solid to stand.
It's why I became a psychotherapist — and why this practice belongs to gay men navigating the second half of life.
You don’t have to have the right words.
You don’t have to be “ready.”
If something in you knows you don’t want to go through this alone, that’s enough.
What Bob's fellow therapists say about him…
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“Clients sing Bob's praises; he is direct, empathetic, and knows his stuff!”
—Judy, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
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“Bob creates a safe and nurturing therapeutic environment with his wonderful blend of empathy, insight, and professionalism. You're in great hands!”
—Rusty, Family Therapist
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“Bob is a brilliant therapist. He understands the clients’ experience well. Bob’s talents for facilitating solid therapeutic relationships with clients are nothing short of exceptional.”
—David, Psychotherapist