LICSW, 27 years of experience
I work with clients to help restore balance, wellness by identifying troublesome patterns, dynamics, issues and work in a wholistic manner addressing cognitive, emotional and behavioral and historical/cultural factors. I also find body/somatic work as a necessary component of managing stress, quality of life and explore how lifestyles impact one's wellness. I have a long history of work with addictions, trauma, anxiety, depression, relationships, identity issues, health and aging issues.
I hope to engage my clients in friendly and casual manner while also inquiring about their needs, wishes, wants, areas of concern as well as to discuss options in how we might move forward...what tools, skills, methods that may be helpful in assisting a client with their issues, goals. I am a friendly guy who wants to put my clients at ease, de-pathologize so much of the mental health labels we put on people and identify our own human struggles and better manage our stress and improve overall quality of life.
I have been effective identifying and targeting clients needs and developing a personal plan to identify and implement helpful strategies and tools to address the areas of concern with individuals, couples and families.
I serve clients with a broad range of issues; anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, couples therapy, life stressors, big life changes, losses. I am an older man with great appreciation for life's challenges and our abilities to overcome them.
I find CBT helpful in assisting clients make the connection between their thoughts, feelings and behaviors and how often that drives anxiety, depression, un-helpful self criticism. It's also useful in identifying one's values, priorities, unspoken judgments, negative internalized messages we receive from the world, or ourselves. Once we identify these un-helpful patterns we can begin to notice them, consider how we might revise and replace with more helpful, fact based perspectives. As humans, we often tend toward self-judgment; self awareness is key...it's amazing once we begin to notice...what we can change.
Our bodies carry and hold stress...we need relief...tapping, massage, yoga, tai chi, walking, dancing, journaling, drawing, painting, mindfulness....SInce the discovery of brain scans science has shown that our bodies reveal and hold our emotions in this beautiful and complex nervous system we have. Our big beautiful brain is hardwired to process information, keep us safe, defend us from harm via the cortex and amygdala. Fear, anxiety and other emotions are held in the physical body. It's really helpful to begin to pay attention to the messages and pains the body is sending us. Too often, we ignore and/or overrule areas in our bodies which is telling us something is off. When we begin to pay attention, we can begin to approach and treat underlying causes, issues, help the body and mind to calm down.
Drs. Julia and John Gottman have been working with couples for decades and have developed some very keen, practical and useful insights practices and tools that help us identify the dynamics, patterns between partners that so often result on ongoing, unresolvable conflicts. They can help us identify underlying issues, values, family of origin patterns, our own individual needs that we have such a hard time coming to terms with our partner and finding compromise or mutual acceptance. Conflict resolution is so difficult for many of us but these tools and approaches are really helpful in making a break through in our strained and painful conflicts!