Tony Overbay, LMFT, MS - Expert

Tony Overbay is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (CA LMFT#92443), a Certified Mindful Habit Coach (CMHC), and a popular motivational speaker. Tony regularly speaks at corporate training events, schools, and churches in formal and casual settings mixing humor, clinical experience, his Christian faith, and a wealth of personal stories gleaned from years of helping others achieve their goals.

Once a promising baseball prospect (his high school coach once called Tony the "best bad ball hitter he had ever seen!), Tony was run over by a 28-foot dual-prop ski boat shortly after his senior year of high school on a trip with friends to Lake Powell, Utah, both of his legs receiving significant damage from the prop of the boat. Tony still carries the scars from the prop some 30 years later. Tony was told that he would regain the ability to walk, but that he would never be able to run quickly, or for distance, as an adult. The accident halted Tony's baseball career, but it set him on a path that eventually led him to creating The Path Back. Tony spent 10 years as a software executive traveling the world presenting at conferences and trade shows and eventually started several of his own companies in industries from computer hardware, health and beauty, and nuts and bolts (literally!).

Despite being told he would never be able to run for distance due to the damage to his legs from the prop of the boat, Tony has since run over 150 marathons and ultra-marathons (races longer than 26.2 miles) including the Boston Marathon, and several races of 100 miles or more including the famed Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run 3 times. Tony started a fundraiser in his community 7 years ago where he runs around a track for 24 hours to raise money for local schools and he speaks to students about fitness, and goal setting.  

Tony has ran around a track for 24 hours in his local town for the last 6 years to raise money for local schools, and to encourage kids to set fitness-related goals. Tony has covered distances of 111 to 125 miles during these events.

Tony felt called to become a marriage and family therapist during a time in his life where the decision to change careers didn’t make much sense. Tony was running a successful computer hardware company that manufactured products that sold into the digital forensics market and he was fresh off a decade as an executive for a software company. Tony felt called to become a therapist, primarily to work with men's issues, as he discovered during his time in corporate America that men often have difficulties admitting, and sharing, their weaknesses with others, particularly with themselves and their partners. . It was during Tony's journey as a therapist where he began to focus on helping people overcome addiction, primarily working in the area of pornography addiction and compulsive sexual behavior.

Tony regularly speaks to schools on a variety of topics from health and fitness, to finding joy and setting goals.

Tony currently has a very busy practice in Northern California, which led to the creation of the Path Back as a way to spread the word that hope and recovery are possible to more than those who he can see in his office.  Tony works in a strength-based environment and has helped hundreds of individuals and couples discover lives that they always dreamed of having, or never knew they were capable of achieving. Tony has been inspiring and educating both youth and adults for over 20 years on topics ranging from internet safety, overcoming pornography addiction and compulsive sexual behavior, couples issues, depression, anxiety, parenting, communication, goal setting and a number of other subjects, always bringing the perfect mix of humor, research and inspirational stories to keep audiences engaged and entertained. Tony has also taught corporations large and small more effective ways to communicate, as well as how to motivate employees at all levels of corporate America. If you are interested in having Tony speak to your group, provide training for your company, interview him on a variety of subjects, or if you'd like to be a guest on Tony's podcast, please contact him using the contact form on the Path Back website.