I have been providing counseling and psychotherapy to adults, children, and teenagers for over 30 years. I have been trained in a variety of approaches. These include: Cognitive Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Behavior Therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Strategic Therapy, Play Therapy, Clinical Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, EMDR, and Energy Psychology methods which include Thought Field Therapy and Emotional Freedom Techniques.
My approach to individual therapy
I do not limit myself to any one technique, theory, or method. My approach to individual therapy is client-centered, multimodal, and integrative. This means that I individualize my approach to each client. I do not use “cookie cutter” approaches or try to fit the client to any one method. I adjust my methods to each client because everyone is unique. I draw from the wide array of techniques and approaches in which I have trained.
No one approach works with everyone. In developing a treatment plan for a client, I integrate the therapeutic techniques that are indicated.
Essential ingredients of good therapy
A therapist’s skill in using therapeutic techniques is a necessary ingredient for good therapy. However, the therapist’s technical skills alone are not sufficient. Psychotherapy is more than using techniques. If therapy was just about techniques, then most people would get better from reading a self-help book or a psychotherapy textbook! Clearly this is not the case. This is the reason there are millions of self-help books on the market!
I have written several self-help books! You can get one of them for free by clicking here.
You can purchase my other two self-help books here.
A good therapist is both compassionate and technically proficient.
Individual therapy is an interaction between two humans, the client being the person coming to the therapist for professional help. If the client does not perceive the therapist as having compassion, there is no therapy. Therefore, an essential ingredient in all psychotherapy is compassion. The therapist must have and demonstrate compassion.
The need to know “why”
Nothing happens for no reason at all in life. And human beings are complex. There are often multiple reasons why people feel and behave as they do. Because it is human nature to want to know “why”, you may search for a compelling reason from the past to explain why you are the way you are. However, without a time machine you can never know for sure what events in the past caused you to feel and act the way you do in the present. There are always multiple determinants.
Ultimately, to satisfy our need to know “why”, what we all do is make up a reason or reasons. If the reason(s) we make up feel like they fit, then we adopt those reasons as our reality. The problem is that the reasons we make up do not necessarily help us change or get better. Good therapy is about making up reasons that not only feel right, but also help us make necessary changes so that we can get better, feel better and function better.
The human condition
As fallible human beings, we are all similar and different from one another. We all have needs. We all seek acceptance and recognition in one form or another. We all need to feel safe however that is defined. We all have core values which guide or misguide our behavior.
Good individual therapy is about helping you, the client, understand what your needs are, and find or develop the skills to get your needs met. Good therapy is about helping you identify realistic and healthy ways to get the acceptance and recognition that you seek. Good therapy is about helping you establish realistic safety in your life however that is defined. And good therapy is about helping you identify your core values and commit to behaving in ways that are consistent with your core values.
What I treat
I specialize in providing psychotherapy for problems of generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, depression, chronic pain, bipolar disorder, self-defeating behaviors, attention deficit disorder, addictions, sexual dysfunction, sexual orientation, trauma and PTSD, grief, loss, job and career transitions, life changes, and parent-child issues.
I have good technical skills. I have many years of clinical experience. I have lived through many of life’s “hard knocks”. And I believe I have compassion.
Call me or email me to schedule a FREE 15-minute phone consultation so we can both find out if we could be a good fit for doing individual therapy together.
Clinical hypnosis and hypnotherapy
So much of what we do every day is controlled by our subconscious or unconscious mind. This is the reason I make frequent use of clinical hypnosis in my work as a therapist. Clinical hypnosis is a powerful therapy tool that provides a focusing mechanism and a doorway to the subconscious mind. But hypnosis by itself is not a complete therapy. I employ cognitive, emotionally focused, and behavioral techniques to address the self-defeating thinking and feeling patterns you need to change to get well.
Brief psychotherapy
Most of the therapy work I do is short-term. Short-Term or Brief Psychotherapy generally runs anywhere between two sessions and a dozen sessions. I do work with clients whom I see on a long-term basis, but this is rare.
The therapy contract
My therapy entails putting together a verbal and often a written contract or working agreement between me, the therapist, and you, my client. This is done at the outset of therapy and it is periodically reviewed and as necessary reformulated throughout the course of treatment.
Challenging beliefs
Often, clients enter therapy with established core beliefs that tend to be expressed as absolutes. Frequently, the events they describe are verbalized as ALWAYS happening. Clients then become trapped in specific negative behavior patterns because of those beliefs. The beliefs are usually not true or valid. This is what causes trouble.
In my counseling and psychotherapy practice, I will challenge your established belief systems so that the possibility of change can occur. It is my responsibility to assist you in changing beliefs that no longer serve you well – beliefs that make you feel trapped and helpless.
Getting started
At the beginning of therapy, I work on understanding you and formulating a conceptual framework for explaining your presenting problems and symptoms. I believe in fully informed consent and thus, want you, my client, to understand my explanations and my rationale for proposing the use of one intervention technique versus another.
My goal as your therapist is to help you create positive change in the shortest amount of time, to save you time and money, and to help you feel better as soon as possible.
Online therapy sessions
Nowadays, in the age of COVID, I am only doing therapy sessions online for everyone’s safety. So, you can see me from anywhere or in the comfort of your home or office!
Call me or email me to schedule a FREE 15-minute phone consultation so we can both find out if we could be a good fit for doing individual therapy together.