Theoretical Orientations and Approaches

First, foremost, and continually, psychotherapy is tailored to your culture and values.  This can in include but is not limited to identity development and identity-based stress related work, incorporating systemic issues, and other ways to of contextualizing your presenting concerns and goals.  The outside world and inside world continually intersect and shape one another, so effective work typically requires persistent flexibility.

Some of the work in psychotherapy involves figuring out what is wrong and hurting, maybe an old or ongoing wound, reactions that no longer serve you, or painful experiences in relationships.  How you view yourself, others, and the world is based in your historical experience.  Using your present experiences as a window into your past is an essential part of deep and lasting change.  Further, processing your present moment thoughts and feelings in our relationship can be leveraged for your benefit.  These psychodynamic principles of therapy are foundation to our work.

Often, growing out of learned and inherited ways of living in the world creates some uncertainty about what to do now, in the present, with the time you have left.  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) often blends well with psychodynamic principles.  Rather than trying to eliminate difficult thoughts and feelings, this approach encourages you to get out of your head and into the other parts of life that make it worth living.  This can look like changing reactions to painful experience, taking actions despite uncomfortable feelings, discerning and living out your values.

In practice, this means our work moves fluidly in multiple directions. Some time is spent going backwards, other time spend in the present, and still other time looking forward.  There is a time and place for skill-building: distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, defusion, etc.  These are often practiced experientially rather discussed intellectually.  For example, I find it is often more powerful to experience strong feelings and regulate during an appointment that to review a list of strategies.

I tend towards using metaphor and imagery to help organize and guide discernment during dilemmas.  For example, you may face a challenging situation and feel uncertain about what to do next.  Metaphorically speaking, the words on the page are blurry but giving you my glasses is rarely a sustainable solution.  The task at hand in our view is to uncover your values rather than offer a wise answer.

If you have previous therapy experience, seeking a particular approach, or are also in the mental health field and are looking for specific language regarding theoretical orientation, I am integrative and draw most frequently from the following: Object Relations, Time-Limited Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Emotion-Focused Therapy.  I find these approaches lend themselves well to interpersonal and person-centered stances.

Mission

We aspire to offer opportunities to heal, grow, and learn. In providing a space for adults from all backgrounds to feel empowered in their pursuit of well-being, we too continue to develop.

Philosophy

Stress and pain are unavoidable parts of life. Our reactions and perception of these situations can cause distress. Working together, you can reframe and learn from painful emotions instead of allowing them to take over.

The qualities of the therapeutic relationship are a powerful source of healing. We will recognize your strengths and the areas in which you may be contributing to the difficulties in certain experiences.

All that makes you a unique person - identities, culture, relationships, past experiences, current circumstances, and future goals - create a unique experience in psychotherapy.