My Approach to Psychotherapy

I think of psychotherapy as a collaboration between therapist and patient. Psychotherapy is a journey the patient and I take together to discover not just what happened in the past but what is possible in the present and the future. We start to notice the patient’s automatic ways of relating to the world. We identify how these patterns both protect and constrict. Together we work to transform ineffective and habitual ways of surviving into thoughts, feeling and behaviors that are life enhancing.

I was trained as a psychoanalyst. I am also experienced in and employ a number of the treatment models that were developed to process traumatic memories including E.M.D.R., Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems. I think of these models as “tools in the tool box.” At any given time, one, or another method may be helpful. Together, my patient and I keep track of what works and what doesn’t. With time, the old ways of relating to the world can be laid to rest. New opportunities become possible.