Therapy Approach

Part of being alive means having those traits or qualities that make each of us unique. For some, life is easy, happiness and fulfillment come naturally, and they do not experience much friction along the way. For others, every day seems to bring new challenges, frustrations, disappointments, or hurts, and it can be hard to find the hope, or to see a future that looks anything other than dark.

We all have blind spots, aspects of our selves or our identities that cause us to do things for reasons we do not quite understand. Maybe we are drawn to the wrong people, make bad decisions, struggle to find motivation, or can't seem to connect the dots that make up a happy or fulfilling life. As a licensed psychologist, my approach to therapy is "psychodynamic," oriented towards helping people understand the "whys" in how they live their lives — why am I drawn to the wrong people, why do I make bad decisions, what motivates my thinking and behavior?

More importantly, my work is not just about understanding the underlying issues, but in figuring out what to do about it — how to make better choices, how to relate more effectively, and ultimately, how to make for myself the life that I want to have. I do this by focusing on those aspects of our lives that tend to operate outside of our awareness — how our families of origin affect and influence our present-day selves, how our emotions and needs motivate us, how our identities might need some more intentional work or development.

My training is in time-limited therapy (typically 15–20 sessions), though I occasionally work with people longer-term if they are benefitting from our work.