WHAT I DO
I do individual therapy with all kinds of people who come to address all kinds of concerns. Some people come to therapy because they wish their lives were going a little better; others feel they cannot spend another day with things as they are. Some feel a bit of both, or something in between.
As disruptive and difficult as symptoms and troubling experiences can be, I believe that they serve as signposts that show us where our energy may be unproductively trapped. In my work, I use a process of skilled listening and dialogue to help people read such signposts. Many find that when they can translate their signs into a language comprehensible to themselves, the energy trapped in symptoms stops causing suffering and becomes available to fuel a passionate life.
HOW I WORK
From a theoretical standpoint, I work integratively. I start from a psychoanalytic foundation, which means that I believe that many powerful influences on our behavior lie outside of our awareness. Onto that foundation, I often add cognitive, behavioral (CBT, DBT), humanistic and experiential techniques and strategies. This means that I also place great stock in the things we actually think, do and feel in our conscious, everyday lives, and whether they help us or get in the way.
More personally, I value honesty, thoughtfulness, humor, exuberance, creativity, subtlety, richness and rigor. I strive to bring these into my work. I love thinking for its own sake, and I also love progress and change. I like to work energetically and with purpose, but I am suspicious of shortcuts, in therapy and in life. I take joy in clarity, but I still find worth and wonder in things that are not clear.
