Individual Therapy
The image above is a digital image of Logan Hagege’s beautiful painting, The Sun Must Set to Rise Again. This painting sits across from me in my office. I was drawn to this painting because I knew the artist and I found it to be aesthetically pleasing. However, like any good work of art, it began to generate in my mind rich narratives and complex metaphors. As I sit with my patients, I look at this painting and see the journey a patient and therapist take together in psychotherapy…
There truly is an art and science to my work. Prior to receiving my training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, I devoted much of my life to the arts, creativity, and performance. I like to work creatively in many different artistic mediums. When I am engrossed in a project, I do not approach it in a structured manner. I do not know where I am going, but my ideas, words, and images begin to fit together. I become actively engaged in a process that requires me to listen closely to myself.
This is how individual therapy looks for most people. They do not know exactly where to start and they certainly do not know how it will end. In the process, they learn how to listen more closely to themselves and they become more connected to their feelings.
My patients describe having this experience in individual therapy. They report feeling more authentic and genuine in the ways they relate to others and the ways they relate to themselves.
Couples
I often think of intimate relationships and couples therapy as a tightrope balancing act. The tightrope performer’s job is no easy feat. He is faced with having to be finely attuned to his rope companion, while creating enough tension between him and the rope to maintain balance.
This is the kind of struggle I see in couples coming for couples therapy and relationship counseling. The pair must strike a balance between intimacy and aggression, connection and separation, and dependence and independence. I believe that it is very rare for a couple to be able to do this intuitively.
The reason why intimate relationships can be so challenging and painful is because this balancing act inevitably will evoke very primitive emotions. In couples therapy and relationship counseling, I help the pair understand how they have developed certain relational patterns that are damaging to their relationship. I also provide in couples therapy and relationship counseling a safe space where each person can express difficult feelings to their partner. If you are interested in couples therapy or relationship counseling please contact me to set up an initial consultation.
Psychodynamic Therapy
The work I do with my patients is called Psychodynamic Therapy. Traditional psychodynamic therapists focus on helping the patient develop insight. When patients develop insight, they gain a greater understanding of their problems and the reasons why they behave the way they do. However, contemporary psychodynamic therapists, like myself, believe that understanding one’s problems is only a piece of the puzzle. Our work also emphasizes emotional expression and human relatedness.
Psychodynamic therapists work from the inside-out, which is very different from other types of treatments that focus purely on symptom reduction. I have a somewhat biased opinion, but I believe what makes psychodynamic therapy stand above other therapies is that it focuses on relationship. In my eyes, the only way that people really change is through the experiences they have with other people.
In other words, we are the way that we are because of the impact that others have had on us. This is key to my work. With my patients, I explore the way that they relate to their friends, their family, and to me.
Evidenced-Based Practices
I am drawn to Evidenced-Based Practices that increase cognitive flexibility, dialectical thinking, and emotional expression. ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy), Emotionally Focused Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, Trauma-Focused CBT, and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) are my favorite interventions, as they are aligned with therapies that are person-centered and relationally driven.
