My Approaches
My approach to therapy is as unique as you are.
Accessible: Your Time is PreciousYou have enough stress in your life. Let’s eliminate having to drive in traffic to physically make it to your appointment. With telehealth, your sessions can occur by video or phone, whether you’re at home, the office, or out-of-town.
Approachable: The Only Couch Here is Yours.When you think of therapy, do you imagine lying on a couch, bearing your soul as your therapist scribbles on a notepad without explanation, a “blank screen,” only occasionally commenting, “Hmmm… very interesting.” Awkward! My approach is compassionate, approachable, warm, and nurturing. You’ll find me free of judgment and full of empathy. You’ll never feel alone when we’re together – and you can sit, stand, or lie down wherever you feel most comfortable.
Individualized: You Are Unique. Your Therapy Should Be Too.Just as one size does NOT fit all, one type of therapy does NOT fit all either. You are the expert when it comes to your life, needs, and dreams. My job is to help you find the answers already deep within you, not to give you flippant advice, silent head nods, or cookie-cutter therapy. We will work together to define your goals for therapy, and I’ll use my professional experience, training, and education to get you where you want to go.
Integrative: You are a whole personYou are complex, with deep layers, not a mere list of symptoms or a diagnosis to treat. My approach to psychotherapy is integrative, meaning that I blend elements from different theoretical approaches to customize treatment according to your needs. Just as I will be integrating various approaches, you will naturally begin to integrate all the various parts of your personality and history into one balanced, cohesive, whole self.
Here are a few approaches we might use in your therapy…
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Connect with yourself and others…
EFIT is an empirically based, humanistic, and compassionate approach to psychotherapy developed by Dr. Sue Johnson. It’s based on Attachment Theory, which believes we are all biologically created for connection with others to survive.
Our distress in life is caused by strategies we develop in insecurely attached relationships, beginning with our earliest caregivers.
Within the frame of your attachment history, you’ll learn to understand better your feelings, reactions within relationships, unmet needs, and the impact of your emotions on your life. You’ll start to get better at identifying and trusting your own needs and desires, engage fully in healthy relationships, and create a new narrative for your life.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
It’s all about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors…
CBT is an evidence-based approach founded by Dr. Aaron Beck. It’s used to treat a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, depression, and trauma (really, any stressful life situation). If your thoughts and feelings are running your life, CBT can help you take back control.
With CBT, you’ll learn to pay attention to your thoughts, take control of them, and change unhelpful thought patterns.
Thoughts like “I can’t do anything right” or “No one will like me if they know who I really am” can be replaced with more positive thoughts like “Everyone makes mistakes” or “Lots of people have been friendly to me in my life, even after getting to know me.”
When we change our thoughts, we also change our feelings and behaviors because they are all inter-connected. If our thoughts are inaccurate or negative, we are likely to have more distressing emotions and dysfunctional behavior patterns.
But if we can challenge our unhelpful or critical thoughts, we can learn to replace them with more realistic, self-compassionate ones that reduce our distress in life.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Helping you overcome barriers created by trauma…
CPT is an evidence-based approach used to treat the impact of trauma on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. CPT is used for all sorts of trauma, but it was initially developed by Dr. Patricia Resick and other female psychologists to help survivors of sexual assault find healing.
Trauma changes the way we see ourselves, others, and the world, especially in the areas of safety, intimacy, self-esteem, power, control, and trust.
With CPT, you’ll learn to challenge your thoughts and replace them with a more realistic, balanced way of thinking. You will learn to respond (rather than react) to triggers and feel more in control of your emotions.
With repeated exposure to the traumatic memories while in the safety of the therapeutic space, you’ll gradually be less and less triggered by the memories.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness
Building a life worth living…
DBT is all about thriving… not just surviving. It’s an evidence-based approach founded by Dr. Marsha Linehan, and it combines CBT with mindfulness training.
The term “dialectical” comes from the idea that bringing together two opposites in therapy, acceptance, and change, gets better results.
You’ll learn strategies to accept and tolerate your life circumstances, emotions, and yourself. You will also develop skills that can help you make positive changes in your life, such as learning how to live in the present moment, coping with stress in healthy ways, regulating emotions, and improving your relationships.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Getting out of your head and into your life…
ACT is an empirically based approach by Dr. Steven Hayes. It is unique because it involves accepting that pain is an inevitable part of life BUT doesn’t have to control our lives.
The more we can accept ourselves and our pain (rather than fighting it), the more energy we will have to put into what matters most to us.
You’ll learn to redefine yourself by your values, distance yourself from the clutter in your mind, and practice self-compassion as you stay true to your authentic self.
Is it time to take the next step?
Call me today, and let’s get started!