(he/him)
I am a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of experience. I have published research on many problems and used that information to develop the clinical skills to help you cope with problems. Instead of just focusing on current problems, therapy can be a skill building program that can help guide you for the rest of your life. I appreciate how problems can make life a struggle, but helping you is one of the activities I use to enjoy life.
In the first session I will use active listening to understand your thoughts and feelings. As I listen to you, I will also guide you to help explore each concern. The goal is to identify and start building the skills you will need to cope with problems.
I use a variety of approaches that are tailored to helping you cope with problems. Beginning with active listening to understand your concerns and solution focused strategies to build solutions. Mindfulness is a tool that helps keep you in the present and Energy psychology is a mind-body approach that can be added when talk therapy is not as effective. I have found that this short-term therapy approach to be a tool that clients enjoy learning and helps them learn how to change.
I think clients should review the problems noted above. I prefer clients who are interested in learning a short-term therapy approach to coping with problems. Clients who want to be better listeners or develop a structured approach to dealing with concerns. Often therapy is about changing old habits, and it takes a commitment to want to change, however, 16 sessions should be enough time to change.
Clients do not have problems, they do them by their thoughts, beliefs and behaviors. In combination with mindful thinking, clients focus on the present and less on the past or a negative future. Clients learn how they sabotage events in life and we work together to develop an organized way to change their behaviors and beliefs, which in turn changes how they feel. Solution Focused Therapy is designed to be short-term helping create a structured approach to change.
Active listening is a strategy I use to better understand how clients are feeling and a tool they need to learn to improve their relationships. In our narcissistic oriented society, listening to others in life is a lost skill. Too often people are thinking about what they want to say or do next. This strategy is often used in combination with mindfulness and solution-oriented therapy
The use of acu-pressure (mind-body) to change beliefs and behaviors is very helpful to people who have tried talk therapy and not gotten the results needed. Often called EFT or energy psychology, examples can be viewed on YouTube. I use the strategies in my book "Energy Tapping" to help clients cope with problems such as addictive behaviors, trauma and depression.