Hello! My name is Dr. Annie Lam and I am a licensed psychologist with 20+ years of experience providing psychotherapy to adults across the lifespan dealing with anxiety, depression, and life transitions. I believe that the core of human development lays in forming and maintaining emotionally intimate relationships. I approach psychotherapy from an integrative perspective, combining relational psychodynamic, CBT, systemic, and experiential theories. I emphasize respect, warmth, mutuality, and collaboration. I will work hard to create a safe and supportive environment for you, focusing on exploring and understanding your unique history and worldview. I will help you identify your strengths and talents, gain insight about patterns of relating that may be unproductive, and encourage you to experiment with new ways of behaving. We will journey together, focusing on increasing your self-awareness and making healthier choices. I particularly enjoy working with individuals seeking help coping with life transitions. This may involve starting or ending a relationship; having a baby; parenting an infant, child, or teen; change in job or career; getting married or divorced; relocating; and achieving a new life milestone. While my psychological approach is effective for a broad range of problem areas, I do not work with people with severe and persistent mental illness or those needing between-session intervention. Clients with active and recent suicidality, psychiatric hospitalization, self-injury, chemical dependence, or disordered eating will likely be referred to more appropriate services and care.
In our first session, I'll ask you questions about the concerns that brought you into therapy, how those concerns impact you, and some general background questions (e.g., family history, work history, medical history, etc.). At the end of the session, I'll ask you about your goals for treatment and share my initial impressions regarding prognosis and the focus of our future sessions.
My biggest strength is helping clients identify and grow their biggest strengths! Human tendency is such that we have a terrible habit of discounting the positive and overly focusing on the negative, especially when it comes to how we view ourselves and our situations. I focus on shifting my clients' perspectives so they can see their inner resilience.
anxiety, depression, life transitions (starting or ending a romantic relationship, change in job / career), parenting issues, relationship issues, communication issues
I integrate Humanistic, Relational, and Cognitive Behavioral psychology in a personalized manner to each client to best help with their treatment goals.