Welcome to my practice. I appreciate your giving me the opportunity to be of help to you.

 

I believe our work will be most helpful to you when you have a clear idea of what we are trying to do. In a general way, I would like to discuss:

 

 

About Psychotherapy

 

Because you may be putting a good deal of time, energy, and money into therapy, you should choose a therapist carefully. I believe you should feel comfortable with the therapist you choose, and hopeful about the therapy. When you feel this way, therapy is more likely to be very helpful to you. Let me describe how I see therapy.

 

My theoretical approach is based on depth psychology. This is a holistic view of the mind as made up of consciousness and the unconscious, each with its unique structure and development. The general goals of treatment involve the reduction of symptomatic or distressing behaviors. In exploratory therapy we will agree on longer-range goals having to do with improving the quality of life through addressing underlying causes of ongoing difficulties in personal and professional relationships. 

 

I am not a medical doctor and so do not use physical interventions such as medications. Where medications might be appropriate, I will work closely with your physician. In relationship counseling, my obligation is to the mental and emotional health of the individuals, not to the relationship. However, I always try to maintain objectivity. Of course I can offer no guarantee or promise of a cure. I do not have control over all the relevant variables, and I would be inviting dissatisfaction if I suggested that I did.

 

I want you to be able to use what you learn in therapy without me. I encourage you to learn more about what methods are used, how well they work, and what possible problems or side effects they may have.

 

When I first meet with a patient, there is an evaluation period. This generally lasts for several sessions, after which I will tell you how I see your case at this point and how I think we should proceed. I view therapy as a partnership between us. You define the problem areas to be worked on. I use some special knowledge to help you work toward the changes you want to make. Psychotherapy is not like visiting a medical doctor. It requires your very active involvement. It requires your best efforts to change thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, even if I don't ask, I want you to tell me about important experiences, what they mean to you, and what strong feelings are involved. This is one of the ways you are an active partner in therapy.

 

I expect us to plan our work together. In our treatment plan we will list the areas to work on, our goals, the methods we will use, the time and money commitments we will make, and some other things. I expect us to agree on a plan that we will both work hard to follow. From time to time, we will look together at our progress and goals. If we think we need to, we can then change our treatment plan, its goals, and its methods. Minor, major, and multiple problems take different amounts of therapy time (both frequency of sessions and duration).

 

Change will sometimes be easy and quick, but more often it will be slow and frustrating, and ywe will need to keep trying. There are no instant, painless cures and no "magic pills." However, you can learn new ways of looking at your problems that will be very helpful for changing your feelings and reactions.