SERVICES
When it comes to the mind, there is no simple, one-size-fits-all approach. I offer psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, couple and family therapy, consultation, and supervision.
Psychotherapy
In the simplest of terms, psychotherapy is “talk therapy.” It is a confidential experience that occurs between you and your therapist, which aims to address whatever issue or issues you are struggling with. At the beginning of any therapy, there are two basic approaches to any particular issue. The first is practical, aimed at providing often-short-term solutions to dealing with an issue – some version of “What do I do when this happens?” or “How do I change this behavior?” A second orientation is toward a more
open exploration of what might be contributing to the issue in the first place. Both approaches have their own merits. Depending on what you want to get out of a therapy, the initial focus of therapy could be weighted more toward the practical or the exploratory.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is an intensive, depth therapy, which involves developing a long-term, intensive relationship between analyst and patient. The unfolding of this therapeutic relationship allows for habitual patterns of thinking and being to be recognized and understood, ultimately leading to an ability to make new and different choices. Meeting at a frequency of four or five times-a-week, psychoanalysis creates conditions favorable to understanding the conscious and
unconscious motivations behind deeply ingrained ways of being in the world. Psychoanalysis is particularly effective in helping you appreciate, bear, and come to terms with the complexity of your feelings, anxieties, desires, and fears. In addition, it can help you learn about how past experiences influence your current life and relationships, often in ways which undermine efforts to move beyond self-limiting patterns of engaging in work or relationships. For a more detailed explanation of the history and process of psychoanalysis click here.
Couple and Family Therapy
Couples therapy can be transformative. It can help couples learn how better to see each other’s perspective, develop mutual respect for each other, increase emotional and sexual intimacy, improve communication, address difficulties around commitment, develop a mutually agreed upon approach to child (adolescent/young adult)-rearing, blend families, resolve conflicts around money and how time is spent, navigate spiritual differences, process acts of infidelity, deal with strains associated with extended family members or friends, or mourn traumatic losses. It can also help couples to
co-parent following a divorce, or during a parent’s illness.
I have found that the best approach to providing couples therapy depends on the particular dynamics of each couple. In addition to my psychodynamic training, I also draw on the eclectic range of trainings I have received in different couples therapy modalities. These include Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), the Gottman Method, and systems theory.
During evaluation I assess whether, and how, I can be helpful. In any cases where I feel I lack the particular expertise to be of help, I am most often able to recommend a clinician in the local area with a better-suited skill set.
Consultation & Supervision
For mental health professionals seeking help with their own clinical work, I offer both consultation and ongoing supervision. My own interests and training have emphasized the Object Relations, Bionian, Post-Bionian, and Field-Theoretical traditions within psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, though I am continually trying to expand my theoretical horizons, and for the past four years have pursued my interest in the clinical work and philosophy of the French psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche. I am always happy to share my own particular perspective on the clinical encounter but remain committed to the principle of helping each clinician develop their own therapeutic voice with their patients.