Choosing a Pathway for Growth
Successful therapy depends on finding the right pathway and an experienced guide to help you achieve your goals. In your search, you’ll want to find a therapist who:
- Understands and empathizes with the difficulties you’re facing.
- Has worked successfully with others in situations similar to yours.
- Offers assistance tailored to your specific needs and circumstances.
- Discusses the therapy process openly and welcomes your questions.
- Can suggest additional resources that may help you achieve your goals.
These are all elements of my approach to working with individuals, couples, and families. The remainder of this page provides a more detailed explanation of how I do therapy so you can decide whether I offer the kind of assistance you’re looking for.
My primary focus is to help you understand and resolve issues from the past as they show up today. Like most therapists, I’m naturally curious about all the events that have shaped you. But I don’t focus on reconstructing the past for its own sake. My goal is to help illuminate the influence of the past on your present experience so you can move beyond your conditioning to a richer, more fulfilling life.
From the beginning of therapy to the end, we’ll continually collaborate to define your goals and objectives and evaluate your progress toward them. Ongoing two-way communication is the key to keeping your personal growth on track.
What You Can Expect
I’m not someone who will sit by passively while you recount your problems. I won’t continually ask, “How does that make you feel?” I won’t maintain a cool and distant stance. Instead, I will engage in an open and interactive dialogue so that we can discover insights and solutions together. I won’t share personal details unless they’re relevant, but you’ll find me sufficiently transparent that you’ll have a clear idea of who I am as a person. And if you have any questions, you can always ask them.
From training, experience, and research, I know that the most important single element in successful therapy is the client/therapist relationship. Methods and approaches are only useful within the context of a healing connection. Nevertheless, potential clients and other therapists often ask about methods or express a preference for certain approaches.
So, to get technical for a moment, I would describe my overall stance as existential-humanistic. (Clicking on any of the highlighted terms will take you to a website with more detailed information.) My approach would probably be best characterized as eclectic and highly interpersonal. I am not wedded to any particular method or school of therapy, but I have trained in several.
Some of the methods I employ include psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, family systems, and brief strategic therapy. My approach to addressing addictions is compatible with the 12 Steps as well as alternative approaches to recovery.
In addition, I offer hypnotherapy (to access resources and solutions unavailable to the conscious mind) and EMDR (to resolve many issues, including trauma, using a specific mind-body technique supported by decades of clinical research).
When appropriate, I bring the perspective of various spiritual disciplines to bear on my work. For example, I find that most people benefit from learning how to be more present with themselves in the moment. This quality, typically referred to as mindfulness, can be developed by practicing a few simple meditation techniques and by fostering genuine curiosity in your own experience.
A slightly different approach, called inquiry, can help you investigate where you are right now as the doorway to a deeper and more profound understanding of your inner nature.
Regardless of the method, I offer a safe and trusting environment where you can identify and discard the beliefs, behaviors, and emotional reactivity that no longer serve you. I want to help you develop the capacity to become the person, couple, or family you want to be.