My Approach to Helping
Hi, and welcome. For many people, the decision to get help can be a difficult one. I see your visit to my profile as a sign of strength and a refusal to give up. Loneliness, the inability to enjoy life, excessive worry or fear, anxiety in social situations, unhappiness or problems in personal, professional or marital relationships, not knowing what to do personally or professionally, even substance "abuse" and PTSD are issues that are interpersonal, not biological. They can be overcome within a genuinely understanding, compassionate, active, and patient therapeutic relationship.
Our work is a "facilitating partnership." I specialize in helping you overcome both your painful symptoms and your life blocks. I help you answer questions you have about yourself, so that you understand yourself and can have fulfilling relationships. I'm a psychodynamic-cognitive-relational practitioner.
I am sincere, transparent (yes, I give straightforward answers to your questions), accepting, and simultaneously engaged and patient. People grow by overcoming life's challenges. Good therapy happens when the person in it feels the right mix of challenge and support. I specialize in helping you find this balance.
Had a Negative Therapy Experience?
A negative therapy experience can be extremely discouraging at best, more often shaming and humiliating, and at worst, a confirmation of one's worst fears. I do not begin on a therapeutic journey with a client until we share an understanding of their past therapy experiences and how these have affected their feelings and thoughts about trying therapy again. I have often been told by clients that I am the first or only therapist that they have "stuck with" or who has actually helped them. If you are skeptical about therapy or about working with a male therapist, I welcome your phone call. I am happy to offer a free consultation. Feel free to interview me!
What Makes up a Problem?
Most people would agree that "depression" and "anxiety" are problems. If we take a close look, however, what we find is that these are "problems" because of the IMPACT that they have on peoples' lives. In short, a "problem" is something that causes a PROBLEM. I say this because as a therapist, it's not my job to tell you how to live your life or what your values and beliefs ought to be. My job is to understand how it is that you are not living the life you want to live, and to help you find a way to live it. If it happens that your values and/or beliefs cause tension either within you or between you and others, then we'll examine that tension and find a way to resolve it. "Problems" do not arise in vacuums. They arise out of conflict, either internal or interpersonal. I help people resolve their conflicts, and I have found time and again that when "conflict" goes away, so do "depression," "anxiety," "relationship /marital stress," and many, many other "mental health" issues.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.