How I Work

If you come to me for therapy, my first task is always to take the time to ask questions and listen to you, so that I really understand you, your relationships, your perspective on life, your goals, your struggles, and your strengths and resources. I'll share my understanding with you. I am biased towards a compassionate understanding that views you as good-natured and assumes you have been doing the best you can with your life and your relationships. From there you may want to refine, clarify, change or deepen what you've said. These discussions, in and of themselves, are enough for some people to move towards positive change in their lives. Sometimes, change means a change from a more negative to a more positive perspective on yourself and your life. Other times, change involves more concrete changes in behavior. I may notice that the way you are conceptualizing a problem allows for no solution, no positive outcome. In this case, I will offer you a different slant on the problem in order to point the way towards a positive outcome.

Sometimes, these discussions are not enough, in which case I may suggest various kinds of exercises or experiments. There are many different kinds of interventions that can be useful in therapy, depending on the client and the situation. Some examples of interventions I use include practicing and rehearsing challenging situations, somatic focusing, empty chair techniques (expressing yourself back and forth with someone in your life as if he/she were there or giving voice to the different parts of yourself.), books/movies that are relevant to your situation, helping you break large tasks into smaller, less overwhelming steps. There are far too many possibilities to mention here. If I think I have something that will be useful to you, I will let you know and give you the choice to try it or not try it.

If the topic at hand is a trauma, then I will provide more structure and direction in the therapy , in order to best help you to process the trauma and not become overwhelmed. If you start to become panicked or numb, I will help you come back to a more comfortable physical and emotional state. You will also learn how to do this for yourself, outside of therapy. Traumatic feelings and memories are more successfully processed in a calm state of body and mind.

If you are coming in for relationship therapy or couples counseling with a significant other, I will help you to bolster the strengths of your relationship and improve communication. I work with couples of all kinds, same-sex couples and polyamorous couples included.

I offer competitive rates and a sliding scale.