Hi! I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Master's in Counseling Psychology with a specialty in somatic, or body-oriented, psychology. I also have a Master's in Creative Writing, and lived as a lay monk in a Zen monastery in Japan. I help motivated young and middle-aged adults who tend to live "in their heads" become more composed, resilient, and effective in living according to their values. This is a problem common to folks with relationship challenges, PTSD, dissociation, anxiety, and mood disorders.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions and establish the framework for what to expect in therapy. Next, we will talk about the specific challenges you're facing. Lastly, I will ask you some additional questions for context--regarding, for instance, previous mental health treatment, medical issues, and family--to complete a clinical assessment and help us create a plan for treatment.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

Having worked with young and middle-aged professionals for over 20 years, I have come to incorporate in my practice many interventions from many therapeutic approaches, which allows me to tailor treatment to your strengths. Stubborn, unproductive habits--like thinking oneself unlovable--can be treated many ways; an experienced clinician like me has more tools to redress the problem. If your orientation to experience tends to be more cerebral, then I would work with you first through thinking and integrate emotion and sensation later. If you are more kinesthetic, I might start with movement exercises before integrating other aspects. Having practiced Zen in a Japanese monastery helps with deep internal quietude and peace, and acceptance of whatever you are experiencing or have done without judgment, and helps imbue others with letting go of unnecessary self-judgment. I can help with mindfulness and breathing at an uncommon depth. It also helps with not being overly-swayed by words. On the other hand, I am not afraid to speak directly and encourage clients to commit to what they come to decide upon. Usually acceptance leads to shifts--we see something as it is and we want to make a shift. There are times encouragement and even confrontation are the most effective ways. Somatic Psychology offers a phenomenological way to see experience. If you say, "She is too affectionate for me," I ask when. "When she kisses me on the cheek when we are watching tv." Then what happens inside when she kisses you like this (sensations, interpretations, expectations of how he is meant to respond, etc), followed by, "Now that you have slowed down and know more clearly what you are experiencing, how will you formulate a response--internally and out in the world?" By doing this we can see what is happening more completely in various manifestations. Then we can experiment with responding differently internally--by simply tracking the internal sensations, or seeing them metaphorically (e.g., butterflies in the stomach) then asking the butterflies what they want. We train the mind to direct the butterflies to move and track how they move in terms of sensation. Attending to the butterflies might lead to a sensation in the throat then tears. Then there is some emotion to explore, which enhances our ability to understand what is really going on and how we should respond.

Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.

I love working with men and women in their thirties and forties who are in new relationships or want to be. They are eager to learn, curious about what is happening for them, and committed to addressing their concerns, but need help getting at what's holding them back. They might believe their relationships fail because of their own fragmentation that shows up in discomfort when it comes to touch, sex, emotions, internal sensations, or thoughts.

About Scott Alexander