Therapeutic Approach

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“It’s a joy to be hidden, and a disaster not to be found.”  Donald Winnicott

My approach is rooted in psychoanalytic principles. I listen with attention to both what you say and how you relate to yourself and me. I will explore with you your patterns of thought, emotions and behavior, in order to give expression, understanding and the awareness to the patterns. We may also gain understanding through considering your dreams (both night and day dreams), and other imaginative expressions that arise within the process. The intention is to cultivate your capacity to observe, be curious about and attend to your personal experience, and come to understand how this plays itself out in your day-to day- life.

Emotional/mental turmoil and pain can be very difficult to live with. It is not uncommon to react against it through various defenses or coping mechanisms. But when ways of coping with feelings of fear, anger, boredom, futility, and sadness cause more of the same, you can end up in a vicious cycle. The inability to have fulfilling relationships, feelings of despair, depression, compulsive behavior, anxiety, and panic attacks, as well as addictive types of behavior can set in and cause damage. I have found that in order to create lasting change, therapy must provide a means of attending to one’s feelings, by helping to develop alternative ways of being with one’s self and others, and by helping to restore or build inner confidence that brings a sense of hope.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy, with its emphasis on the “here and now” of your experience and multiple sessions per week, allows for the quality of engagement necessary for you to have meaningful and relevant contact with what is concerning you.

Leo is a small, gentle-souled dog who shares the sessions with us. He is hypo-allergenic and calm. Mostly, he stays on his bed, but, sometimes, he comes to say hi and sit for a few pets.