Hello! I'm Dr. Miriam Adrianowicz. As a psychologist, I see my role as your partner on your path to greater wellbeing. I believe the bedrock of this partnership is your sense of safety within it, and it is from this safe place that change begins to feel possible. I believe that the quality and strength of our partnership has a great impact on how effective our work is together, and our first step forward is developing a relationship in which you feel secure and empowered. I'm passionate about helping people heal through the power of self-understanding. Whether you are in acute distress or feel a more general sense of life dissatisfaction, becoming more aware of how you operate and why can help you gain a better sense of control and agency in your life. I believe the better you know yourself, the more equipped you are to manage symptoms, improve relationships, navigate life’s challenges, or simply take steps to improve your quality of life – whatever that may look like. My approach to psychotherapy is tailored to each individual based on their needs and goals. I draw from many treatment approaches and strive to find what is most helpful for you as a unique person. Please see below for more specifics. I look forward to talking more and answering any questions you may have!
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, we'll begin to get to know each other. I'll ask what brings you to therapy, and do my very best to understand your current situation. While learning about you, I will likely check in from time to time to make sure I'm understanding you correctly and that we are on the same page. I want to get a sense of you as a person, not just your symptoms. I will also ask about your goals for therapy and what a successful outcome of treatment would look like for you. You will probably not come away from the first session feeling cured! This is because our first session is only the start of our work together and it is important to me to earn your trust, make our relationship feel safe, and get the best understanding of your situation before we dive into treatment. I may share some thoughts or ideas about what may be helpful to focus on or a good place to start, and I welcome your feedback. The first session is also an opportunity for you to ask questions and get a sense of my style as a therapist. I'll go over office policies, confidentiality, and we'll discuss my fee. I hope you leave the session feeling heard, hopeful, and excited to come back!
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I believe a strength of mine is the depth of the connection I aim to foster in our therapeutic relationship, and my ability to attune to your current emotional state. Previous clients have given me the feedback that they have felt understood. Another strength of mine is flexibility in terms of therapeutic approaches. I also can't help but bring my own personality into the therapeutic relationship; I've been told I'm relatable and down-to-earth, and often use humor in my relational style.
About Dr. Miriam Adrianowicz
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Address
345 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102Appointments
Fully bookedMy treatment methods
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic therapy is about “insight” – that "aha!" moment in which you, for example, make a connection that explains a behavior, feel the power of an emotion that has been unrecognized, or experience clarity about what needs aren’t being met in your relationship. Insight occurs when you bring something into awareness that previously was unknown or unacknowledged. Therapy gives us the opportunity to discover things about our behavior, thoughts, and feelings that can illuminate ways to feel better that we simply never knew we could harness in the first place. Through these realizations, we can ultimately broaden the scope of what is possible and within our capability to change.
Integrative
Integrative therapy refers to using multiple different treatment modalities. In my practice, I often combine approaches based on the needs of each unique person. My goal is to find what type of treatment resonates with you, because the more you believe in the work you’re doing, the more it increases the likelihood of achieving your goals. This relates to a broader goal of mine as a therapist – to fully appreciate and understand to the best of my ability what makes you – you! Our many different identities form who we are, how we perceive the world, and how we see ourselves. Everyone has a different story, and I consider what approach(es) might be most helpful based on yours.
Relational
Relational therapy emphasizes the importance of the relationship between therapist and patient, and actually utilizes the relationship to identify patterns (sometimes problematic) that may occur in other relationships. In my practice, I use how we relate to each other as an example of how you may relate to other people in your life. This is where therapy is different from other relationships – in our therapeutic relationship, we can talk about our interactions and our feelings about them more objectively. My hope is that these conversations come from a place of safety and non-judgment, which are not always present in our personal relationships. Essentially, we can use our interactions as a “test case” to better understand how you relate to others in your life and identify ways that may be helpful in improving relationships.
Strength-Based
When we're in distress, it can be helpful to recognize and utilize things that we're already good at to help us feel better. By identifying your existing strengths, we can use them as examples of success, and to guide ways in which we can tackle current problems most effectively. In my practice, I aim to empower you. To facilitate that, I want to frame our conversations about problems not in terms of deficiencies, but instead in terms of how we can build upon what is already working.