I use a cognitive-behavioral approach to individual therapy, with a heavy emphasis on behavior. What this means is that in contrast with, say, psychodynamic approaches that focus on unraveling the past, my focus is on the present. And while you can't directly control how you feel, you can learn to control your thoughts, and absolutely can control your behaviors, and if you do so your feelings will change as well.
My style is very interactive. I see my role as one of asking those hard questions that you may be afraid to ask yourself to challenge your thinking and behaviors, to find out where you get stuck running your own life. We focus on problem-solving but also talk about skills — to manage your depression, anxiety, attention-deficit disorder, anger management—and I give homework to do between sessions so you not just talk about your life, but can actively begin to change it outside of sessions. Most of work is short term. I rarely see clients weekly, but do have clients who regularly check in on biweekly or monthly basis.
Here are some of my specializations:
Anxiety / Depression
They are placed together because they often psychologically go together. A good part of anxiety and depression are genetic. But for many of us anxiety and depression are byproducts of our current life situations: Feeling trapped in a job or relationship can fuel depression, as can guilt and regret about the past, while worries about the future, along with critical inner voices, can fuel anxiety. My focus is helping you learn how to rein in those troubling thoughts and emotions in concrete ways, as well as approaching and solving the real-world problems.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a form of anxiety. What makes it difficult to overcome is that like most anxiety disorders if you listen to your anxiety and do what it is telling you do, such as clean, count, you feel better. Unfortunately this only reinforces those brain circuits. The antidote is rewiring your brain by pushing back and slowly changing those behavioral patterns.
ADHD
Also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. If you are an adult, it likely keeps you from accomplishing tasks, meeting deadlines, drives you to high-risk behaviors, or leaves you feeling anxious. If you have children with ADHD you may get notes from teachers that your child can’t settle down in class, is not meeting his potential, or is having trouble making friends. The focus here is learning concrete skills to better organize your thinking and behaviors in order to learn to override your ADHD brain.
Anger Management
It’s often more complicated than it seems — anger isn’t just about controlling your temper or biting your tongue. It’s also about looking at anger as a solution to something else. For some it is about other emotions too difficult to express, about walking on eggshells and being hyper-alert to what may come, about grief and loss. My focus is about helping you learn new skills to control your anger, but also to learn to use it as information telling you and others what you need.
Developmental / Life Transitions
Moving through a divorce, retirement, death of a loved one, job change—those often difficult transitions that come with life stages, with unexpected events. Here the focus is on making sense of the past and moving forward into a new life chapter.
My goal is to help you reach your goals.
My style is very interactive. I see my role as one of asking those hard questions that you may be afraid to ask yourself to challenge your thinking and behaviors, to find out where you get stuck running your own life. We focus on problem-solving but also talk about skills — to manage your depression, anxiety, attention-deficit disorder, anger management—and I give homework to do between sessions so you not just talk about your life, but can actively begin to change it outside of sessions. Most of work is short term. I rarely see clients weekly, but do have clients who regularly check in on biweekly or monthly basis.
Here are some of my specializations:
Anxiety / Depression
They are placed together because they often psychologically go together. A good part of anxiety and depression are genetic. But for many of us anxiety and depression are byproducts of our current life situations: Feeling trapped in a job or relationship can fuel depression, as can guilt and regret about the past, while worries about the future, along with critical inner voices, can fuel anxiety. My focus is helping you learn how to rein in those troubling thoughts and emotions in concrete ways, as well as approaching and solving the real-world problems.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a form of anxiety. What makes it difficult to overcome is that like most anxiety disorders if you listen to your anxiety and do what it is telling you do, such as clean, count, you feel better. Unfortunately this only reinforces those brain circuits. The antidote is rewiring your brain by pushing back and slowly changing those behavioral patterns.
ADHD
Also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. If you are an adult, it likely keeps you from accomplishing tasks, meeting deadlines, drives you to high-risk behaviors, or leaves you feeling anxious. If you have children with ADHD you may get notes from teachers that your child can’t settle down in class, is not meeting his potential, or is having trouble making friends. The focus here is learning concrete skills to better organize your thinking and behaviors in order to learn to override your ADHD brain.
Anger Management
It’s often more complicated than it seems — anger isn’t just about controlling your temper or biting your tongue. It’s also about looking at anger as a solution to something else. For some it is about other emotions too difficult to express, about walking on eggshells and being hyper-alert to what may come, about grief and loss. My focus is about helping you learn new skills to control your anger, but also to learn to use it as information telling you and others what you need.
Developmental / Life Transitions
Moving through a divorce, retirement, death of a loved one, job change—those often difficult transitions that come with life stages, with unexpected events. Here the focus is on making sense of the past and moving forward into a new life chapter.
My goal is to help you reach your goals.