Relational

Having a positive relationship with your therapist can be a powerful basis upon which to improve your relationship with yourself and others. A primary focus in my approach to therapy is to develop a relationship with my clients that supports their needs.

Trauma Informed Care

I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Complex Trauma, I have worked with many clients who experience PTSD and other forms of post traumatic stress, and I have solid understand of how trauma occurs, and how to work through it.

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

All human experiences have a cognitive component, as the process of experiencing and conscious awareness occur in the brain. Therefore, I find cognitive therapy to often be useful in reducing suffering or increasing positive experiences. Most people in therapy also have some concern about behavior and this can be an important focus in therapy.

Mind-body approach

My therapy practice includes a strong emphasis on feelings and all feelings have a physical component. It can be important and useful to increase understanding of the relationship between mental and physical experiences. I trained for 5 years in a clinic specializing in somatic (physical body) therapy and learned the human body is an endless source of useful information.

Psychodynamic

The root "psycho" means soul or mind. Most people experience many different (dynamic) parts of self and often our internal parts can be in disagreement. For example, being a parent can be deeply moving and emotionally rewarding, and it can also be terribly painful and scary. So part of the self can love parenting while part of the self may want to escape all the pressure. Psychodynamic therapy helps examine different parts of self and work toward internal resolution. My graduate education was steeped in psychodynamic principles and this is a strong foundation of my approach to psychotherapy.