My approach
Therapy is a Collaborative Process. I don't believe therapy works particularly well when the therapist simply sits back and listens while you describe your problems.
I want to understand what is happening with you, and I'm willing to be an active participant in that process.
I'll ask questions, offer observations, and sometimes suggest that we look at something from a different angle. I'll pay attention to patterns that show up in your life, but also to what happens between us in session: what feels easy to talk about, what doesn't, what you expect from me, and what you may be reluctant to let me see.
Those moments can tell us a great deal about how you experience relationships more broadly.
Looking beneath the symptoms
My work is primarily psychodynamic, with influences from attachment and existential perspectives.
Rather than focusing only on managing symptoms, we explore the experiences and patterns that gave rise to them.
That might mean looking at early relationships, conflicts you've never quite been able to resolve, ways you've learned to protect yourself, or beliefs about yourself that once made sense but no longer serve you.
Understanding where a pattern came from doesn't automatically change it. But it can make change possible.
Insight and action
I believe therapy needs both understanding and action.
Sometimes I'll offer something to sit with or notice between sessions. I don't think of therapy as a set of assignments to complete. Instead, the work continues between our conversations as you begin to notice yourself differently in everyday life.
As we develop a clearer understanding of what's happening, we can also experiment with new ways of responding.
Therapy can be difficult work. It can also be surprisingly engaging, sometimes funny, and deeply rewarding.
Ultimately, it's a collaborative process between the two of us: a chance to understand yourself more fully and discover what becomes possible when you do.
