Approach

Have compassion on everyone you meet
Even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit,
Bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign
Of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on
Down there where the spirit meets the bone.

-MILLER WILLIAMS, “Compassion”

Psychotherapy is a compassionate space in which the things we carry inside may be known and thought about. Where complaint is not dismissed and apprehension can tell its side of things. Where we are not alone in our efforts to bear what is difficult and make sense of our experience.

In therapy we begin where you are. As therapist, I listen with you to what has been ‘drawing a crowd’ in your mind, emotions, and relationships. What emerges over time has a way of loosening knots and opening the way towards growth.

In my work I am interested in your experience of yourself as well as your experience as a human among humans. In theoretical terms, I practice psychoanalytically-informed psychotherapy, drawing from British Object Relations and the relational vein.  For me this means my thinking is grounded in a regard for the world of inner experience, unconscious processes, thinking symbolically, the enduring imprint of early life experience, and relational dynamics within yourself and with others, including me.

I also draw from existential, humanistic, family systems, attachment, and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) concepts.

While I work with people from all walks of life, some common concerns I work with in my practice are:

  • Anxiety and overwhelm
  • Depression
  • Stressful transitions and adjustments
  • Relationship difficulties
  • Family of origin experience, impact, and ongoing relationships
  • Self-concept / Self-esteem
  • Self-exploration and personal growth: a desire for deeper self-understanding and locatedness in oneself. Examples: growing understanding of one’s relational style, attachment patterns, defenses, personality strengths and vulnerabilities.
  • Work and vocational distress
  • Issues of emerging adulthood
  • ADHD (difficulty regulating attention, focus, time and planning)
  • ‘Pure O’ OCD (obsessive compulsive patterns that entail thought-based compulsions only, without external behavioral compulsions)
  • Posttraumatic stress
  • The immigrant and refugee experiences (1st and 2nd generation) / Cross-cultural living with its unique stressors
  • The personal impact of systems (cultural, societal, theological, etc.)
  • Religion and spirituality, including spiritual abuse. I welcome those for whom religious identity and practice have been formative in their lives and who may wish to engage theological categories in therapy and/or to process past experiences within religious environments and theologies.