My Background
My Background
Therapy Services
Depth Psychology
Psychotherapy Services
Individuals
Exploring your life in partnership with a caring, dedicated professional can be a remarkable gift to yourself. I believe it is one of the best ways to create positive, lasting change in your life. I work with individuals on many of the issues which bring people to therapy: depression, anxiety, stress, grief, substance abuse, relationship and work issues, creative blocks, sexual identity, trauma, and the loss of meaning and purpose in life.
Depending on your needs and interests, I will be drawing from different modalities, but at the foundation of a successful therapy is a relationship based on trust and respect. Every person is unique but all human beings are alike in that we are deeply social, relational beings. Our psychological wounds so often occur in relationship to others - or sometimes from the lack thereof. This is also where the healing lies: in a trusting and nurturing relationship with a therapist, inner defenses can soften - and underlying wounds and trauma can emerge and be tended to. I strive to provide a safe, therapeutic environment where this type of experience can happen.
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Couples
Good relationships don’t just happen. So many of us bring into our relationships our dysfunctional patterns, past wounds, cultural programming, and societal expectations which - often without realizing it - we have taken on as our own. The more we become aware of our unconscious scripts, the more we are be able to find and maintain satisfying and happy relationships.
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Falling in love inevitably involves a certain amount of projection: we project our hopes, dreams and wishes onto our partners. And it feels wonderful. But the challenges begin with the eventual realization that our projections don’t always sync up with reality. Or as C.G. Jung stated so succinctly, “Love is the dynamism that most infallibly brings the unconscious to light.” Having to navigate the discrepancy between an idealized version of one's partner - and the actual, real person - is a normal process in every relationship (romantic and non-romantic alike). The question then becomes: how do we deal with it?
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I can assist you in recognizing the projections, patterns, and cycles of interaction in which you might be caught in your relationship. Together we will explore new ways of interaction and communication.
This can provide you with corrective experiences that allow for a healing of wounds - both yours and your partner’s. Couples therapy is not always easy or comfortable, but the benefits can be profound, and can touch every aspect of your life. Personal growth and a better understanding of your own selves are added benefits of successful couples therapy.
Children
Children express emotions differently than adults. The younger children are, the less they are able to articulate their feelings; and the more likely that they will act them out behaviorally, exhibit sleep disturbances, or have social issues. Play therapy helps children express and integrate their feelings and assists them in learning how to regulate their impulsesand regain emotional equilibrium.
Depending on the age and interests of the child, play therapy will include but not be limited to sandplay, puppets, enactments, narrative therapy and art therapy. This provides the child with a consistent and supportive space to process what is troubling him/her, and to learn new and positive ways to navigate difficult emotional situations. In my experience, the availability of a safe therapeutic environment enhances not only the strength and resilience of the child - but of the whole family.
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In addition to seeing the child, I will also meet with the parents and/or caretaker once a month, to coordinate our efforts and improve the overall functioning and support of the family at home.
Adolescents
An adolescent has one foot in the safety of childhood, while the other is eager to separate from parents and childhood home, and head out into the world. Therapy can provide a steady, neutral and trusted source of support to help sort through the conflicting emotions of the adolescent years, and help the young person gain a better understanding of who they are - beyond and beneath the influences of friends and culture.
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Challenges for teens and their parents can be compounded by overexposure to social media, explicit on-line sexual content, excessive video gaming, academic pressure, consumerism, substance abuse, and a general disconnect from the natural world. I have found that adolescents respond particularly well to an existential, depth-psychological approach - which allows for a deeper exploration of the questions all adolescents grapple with:
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Who am I? Who do I want to become? What is the meaning of it all..?
Parenting
Being a parent is probably one of the most challenging journeys a human being can embark on. It can be utterly demanding, joyous, confusing, overwhelming, and profoundly satisfying - sometimes all at once. Parenting can stir emotions you had no idea you were capable of. Not coincidentally it is also an amazing opportunity for personal growth. And ultimately, you support your child best by becoming the most authentic and best version of yourself.
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Parenting also holds up a mirror to how we ourselves were parented, and the process can trigger powerful emotions. You might find yourself doing things you swore you would never do, or loosing your temper more often than you would like. Your personal triggers – the things that unexpectedly or disproportionally set you off – can point to past wounds you might not previously have been aware of. Therapy can assist you in becoming more aware of these underlying issues and pains, and begin the process of healing. Together we can unravel and determine what is "your stuff" - and what belongs to your child. Having an understanding of these dynamics also allows you to broaden your emotional capacity and deepen your relationship with your child. The greatest gift we can give to our children is to not pass our own baggage on to them.
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For expecting parents, I also offer a package of six 50-minute sessions of pre-natal counseling, either for you individually, or together with your co-parent-to-be. We will explore your hopes and fears relating to the birth of your baby, any parenting concerns you may have, and work on preparing for the new and unfamiliar demands of caring for a newborn. Working with parents-to-be is a special privilege for me.
Sandplay & Dream Exploration
Sandplay is a nonverbal form of therapy where the client creates images in a sandtray, choosing from a large selection of miniature figures. Similarly to working with dreams, the contemplation of the resulting images and symbols can open new avenues of understanding how the unconscious expresses itself in conscious life. It allows the ego to step aside and make way for spontaneous expressions of the psyche.
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Children naturally gravitate to sandplay, and yet it can also be healing and beneficial for adults. Many adults have found it particularly helpful in overcoming creative blockages, in that it offers a "third other" - a perspective less entangled in expectations, worries and fears.
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Dreams have the potential to reveal a deeper psychological understanding of your current situation and patterns of behavior. Dream therapy can illuminate blind spots, and speed up your understanding of yourself and your reactions to certain situations. The examination of dreams also provides another angle on one of the main questions asked in therapy: in which ways does your past determine, or diminish, your future?
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If recollection of your dreams doesn't come easily to you, there are many other ways to access your unconscious processes: we can also explore painting, stories, body sensation, or movement therapy.
What can you expect in our first session?
A strong therapeutic relationship is essential for successful therapy. In our first meeting we will talk about what has brought you to therapy, and what your goals for it are.
Just as importantly, you can ask me any questions you have about psychotherapy - and my personal approach to it - so that you can decide if the two of us are a good fit.
If after our first session you decide to proceed further, we will then work out session times, frequency of meetings, the particulars of your issues, and (if applicable) your personal circumstances.
Fees
Please email or call for a full fee schedule.
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My fees vary, depending on frequency of visits and modality
(individual/couple/family).
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I set aside a limited numbers of slots with sliding-scale fees, for clients who would otherwise be unable to afford therapy.
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All sessions are 50 minutes. There is a 48-hour advance-notice requirement for cancellation without fee.
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I am not a member of any PPO networks. If your insurance accepts out-of-network providers, I will provide a monthly superbill to submit for reimbursement. But please call your insurance provider beforehand to confirm your benefit structure.
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Payment is due at the conclusion of each session.