Treatment Philosophy
I custom tailor a treatment plan that takes into account each individual’s or family’s strengths and goals. I believe in combining high quality treatment with the virtues of old-fashioned care – the kind where we take as much time as we need – no insurance company forcing us to rush or interfering with our treatment plan. And I strive for clear, open communication about your biggest concerns, without the doctor-speak.
Medication
I see adults who are in therapy with me, and children and adolescents if I am seeing their parents for weekly strategy sessions, for medication. While I believe that some problems can improve with therapy alone and without medication, medication can be a valuable adjunct, and at the end of the initial evaluation I will give you my opinion on if this modality would be worth exploring.
I do not accept money, dinners, or gifts from drug companies or their representatives. Not even pens or stickies.
Adult Psychotherapy
I frequently see adults with depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties or ADHD; family or relationship stress and separation or divorce; feelings of emptiness, or those suffering from grief, trauma, abuse (PTSD), or loss; and those having difficulty coping with medical issues. I also work with many adults on improving their time management, organizational, managerial and leadership skills.
My main therapeutic work with adults is psychodynamic, meaning that we strive not just to reduce symptoms of suffering, but to get to their root causes, and then work to improve one’s sense of self and relationships. This process takes time and commitment, but the changes are usually long-lasting and for the better.
Skills from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are also incorporated to make the treatment comprehensive. Additionally, elements of eastern philosophy are woven in at times to help us deal with issues that western psychotherapy techniques have yet to fully address.
Parent Supportive Work
I often am referred children and adolescents who get into trouble; have academic, learning, or relationship difficulties; have ADHD, anxiety or depression; are underachievers; have family stress or whose parents are divorced or separating; or who have been adopted, abused, neglected or traumatized.
Many parents who see me have tried rewards and consequences with only limited success, feel “b
lamed” by other clinicians, feel guilty, or are at a loss. I start with the assumption that parents are doing the best they can given what they’ve got, and I then work with them closely to help them understand the meaning behind their children’s symptoms, and how to respond to them more effectively. In this process, we not only reduce symptoms, we deepen the parent-child relationship and improve the child’s self-esteem. I work with their parents to help them deepen their connection, work through conflict better, and in the process, reduce troubling symptoms.
Due to the nature of my practice being via video, I am not able to offer psychotherapy to children.