MY APPROACH

My therapeutic approach is integrative, holistic and collaborative, but perhaps most importantly, it is respectfully curious – I want to come to understand you.

Practically, we will work together to develop an intervention plan that is specifically tailored for you, for what you need, and how you are “built” psychologically.

Just as we are all “built” different physically, we are all different in terms of our essential psychological makeup – our psychological “selves.” I listen carefully in the first few sessions to understand you and your concerns and collaborate with you to provide compassionate psychotherapy that is individualized for you. I think my approach is best characterized as respectful and thoughtful, with a balance of compassion and gentle humor that helps us maintain perspective.

Your health and well-being are my primary concern.

An aspect of my integrative approach is ensuring that we focus on your psychological/emotional health, physical health and spiritual health, combining these aspects in whatever way you feel is most helpful and respectful of your values, beliefs and culture. Through providing you a safe, supportive space to voice your concerns, focusing on understanding you and what brought you to psychotherapy, I am committed to creating an environment that offers you respect and healing.

My theoretical orientation integrates psychodynamic psychotherapy approaches, where the therapy relationship is understood to provide a crucial and necessary element for positive outcomes; cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies for trauma-related disorders; somatic psychotherapies for trauma-related disorders, including mindfulness based approaches. I have worked with people and communities from various cultures, and in different parts of the world, and my therapeutic approach is strongly influenced by these experiences.

First Session

What to expect for your first consultation appointment

Your first visit will take approximately 60 minutes and will be an opportunity for us to get to know one another, for you to get a sense of how I work, to get your questions answered, and to determine if this therapeutic relationship will be a good fit for you.

The latter issue – a “good fit” between us, is a critical one, and I ask that you give this factor careful consideration. For the first session, I will focus on listening, understanding, and gathering some basic information about your history as relevant.

I do not use standardized (e.g. paper and pencil, computerized) forms for this initial consultation; I prefer to focus all my time and effort on listening and understanding. I ask that you tell me as much as you feel comfortable about what issues led you to seek this consultation, what types of solutions you have sought, what has helped you in the past, and if you have a sense of what could be helpful for you now.

I encourage you to ask as many questions as you need of me, and I will do my best to give straightforward answers. If you decide I can be potentially helpful to you, we will proceed from there and collaborate on developing a treatment plan.

The frequency of sessions will vary depending on the treatment plan we create together, and taking into account your availability, level of stress and/or distress, and other factors related to what led you to seek psychotherapy at this time.

At each visit, I will first check in with you about any significant events during the time since our last session, any changes in your emotional or physical health, and if there is something urgent you would like to discuss immediately. We’ll then proceed with the treatment plan we have created together. Periodically we will be checking in to see if our sessions are helpful to you. If at any time you have concerns about the helpfulness of our work together, I will encourage and support you to discuss these issues with me openly and honestly.