Individual psychotherapy offers a space for you to explore and reflect on who you are, what concerns you, and how to move forward in your life in ways that feel meaningful and empowering. I will work with you to find ways of making use of the therapeutic relationship and process so that you can develop a deeper understanding of yourself and how all of the pieces of your life fit together, including the past, present, and imagined future, along with how your thoughts, feelings ,and behaviors are all connected.
Relational Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
Relational psychotherapy is based on the idea that human beings are best understood in the context of how they relate to themselves and others, and that it is within the context of a safe and connected relationship with another human being that growth and healing can take place.
People are understood to be unique and complex and so are the problems they face. From this perspective, symptoms are seen as a signal of something else that needs to be payed attention to - often deeper issues that have never been acknowledged or formulated. It is when we can develop a secure therapeutic relationship, that we can "go deeper" and understand the unconscious experiences and processes that drive our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and reactions to others. From here, longer lasting symptom relief and personally meaningful changes can be created and maintained long after therapy ends.
It is my goal to help create a therapeutic relationship where this can be possible. I am very interested in getting to know people on multiple levels, including their past or developmental experiences, who they are today, and how they interact with others and experience the world. The therapeutic process will allow us to create a real, experiential relationship where we can explore both from a historical, and "real-time" perspective, the painful feelings and thoughts, past experiences, and ways of interpreting or perceiving new experiences that often shape or perpetuate current problems.
I understand that this type of work is usually more intense and longer-term than many of the commonly advertised shorter-term therapies or those that focus more specifically on symptom relief, skills-building, and behavioral management. While these therapies often promise quick results, my experiences lead me to believe they can fall short of understanding the complexities of individuals and the problems they face and that people often have difficulty maintaining the limited changes for any significant amount of time. I have come to believe that what is most often helpful for people is not being given advise or being taught how to do something, but in being given the opportunity to experience an emotionally-corrective relationship where they can be listened to and come to feel deeply known, understood, and accepted by the other person. This ultimately will allow for greater personal freedom and self-control and to feel they can lead more fulfilling and meaningful lives.
People are understood to be unique and complex and so are the problems they face. From this perspective, symptoms are seen as a signal of something else that needs to be payed attention to - often deeper issues that have never been acknowledged or formulated. It is when we can develop a secure therapeutic relationship, that we can "go deeper" and understand the unconscious experiences and processes that drive our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and reactions to others. From here, longer lasting symptom relief and personally meaningful changes can be created and maintained long after therapy ends.
It is my goal to help create a therapeutic relationship where this can be possible. I am very interested in getting to know people on multiple levels, including their past or developmental experiences, who they are today, and how they interact with others and experience the world. The therapeutic process will allow us to create a real, experiential relationship where we can explore both from a historical, and "real-time" perspective, the painful feelings and thoughts, past experiences, and ways of interpreting or perceiving new experiences that often shape or perpetuate current problems.
I understand that this type of work is usually more intense and longer-term than many of the commonly advertised shorter-term therapies or those that focus more specifically on symptom relief, skills-building, and behavioral management. While these therapies often promise quick results, my experiences lead me to believe they can fall short of understanding the complexities of individuals and the problems they face and that people often have difficulty maintaining the limited changes for any significant amount of time. I have come to believe that what is most often helpful for people is not being given advise or being taught how to do something, but in being given the opportunity to experience an emotionally-corrective relationship where they can be listened to and come to feel deeply known, understood, and accepted by the other person. This ultimately will allow for greater personal freedom and self-control and to feel they can lead more fulfilling and meaningful lives.