About Daniel
I’m Daniel A. Burgess, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in marriage counseling, couples therapy, and sexual health — with a unique focus on the Mormon faith spectrum.
After more than 40 years as an active Latter-day Saint, I recently left the church. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life. And it’s also what makes me uniquely equipped to serve couples on every side of that journey — those deeply committed to their faith, those questioning or leaving, and those navigating different faith paths within the same marriage.
I don’t have an agenda for your faith. My only goal is helping you build a marriage that is authentic, connected, and deeply yours — wherever you are on the spectrum.
What I specialize in
- Sexless marriage counseling and desire differences
- Purity culture healing and sexual shame recovery
- Religious trauma recovery
- LDS couples therapy and mixed-faith marriages
- Faith transition support
- Betrayal trauma and rebuilding trust
How I work
My approach blends clinical clarity with honest compassion: cutting-edge, evidence-based methods delivered by someone who has walked the road himself. Clients often tell me we get “below the surface to the core issues quickly.” I’ve spent over a decade teaching and presenting on sexuality, relationships, and emotional well-being — demystifying taboo topics with clarity and compassion. I created the Improving Intimacy podcast and community, where thousands have found a safe place to ask the questions no one else would touch.
Working with me when you’re not in California or Utah
My licence limits therapy to two states, but most of what I teach doesn’t require an appointment. Improving Intimacy: The Course is ten modules you work through privately and keep, $197 once. The Inner Circle is a private membership — members-only essays and five forums where the taboo questions get honest, clinically accurate answers, from $19 a month. Both are open to anyone, anywhere. I also take a limited number of speaking and professional training engagements for congregations, universities, and clinician groups.
Credentials
- M.A. in Clinical Psychology, emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy — John F. Kennedy University
- B.S. in Corporate Finance
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist — California LMFT #105383 and Utah LMFT #11952129; fully online practice serving California and Utah, with coaching available anywhere
- Aligned with AASECT principles for accurate, shame-free sexuality education
The personal side
My wife, Julie, and I are the parents of two sons and three daughters — so I understand family dynamics from lived experience, not just the textbook. I’m also a neurodivergent adult, open about managing ADHD and dyslexia; that out-of-the-box wiring fuels both my creativity as a clinician and my empathy for anyone who has ever felt “different.”