SERVICES

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

The decision to work with a life coach, professional counselor and/or psychotherapist is a dedication to your own inner growth. The synergy between you and your life coach or counselor is the most important factor in productive therapy.

Many people seem to neglect their emotional and interpersonal development. Caring for one’s self is often more than just exercising, eating right and getting enough sleep. Psychological problems can appear mysterious and shameful. In many cases, psychological issues such as grief, stress, trauma and depression can manifest in a number of physical symptoms as well, such as chest pain, headaches, lack of energy. Individual therapy is a powerful medicine founded in scientific study. Though it is not as easy to measure and administer as a pill, it solves problems and mysteries where other medical science can not.

The mind is perhaps one of mankind's greatest mysteries - and no two people are exactly alike. Individual psychotherapy is deeply concerned with helping you understand and accept who you REALLY are, whatever that may be. The methods of listening, movement, counseling and reflecting are intended to guide each client to a different, individual place where inner healing lives.

Individual therapy or coaching may require some dedication and definitely requires a personal commitment to change through self discovery. It is especially effective for dealing with deeply personal issues. Everything that is revealed in a session is kept strictly confidential. Even with friends and family, you may feel you can not explore and express your deepest fears, desires and thoughts. With the guidance of an experienced coach or counselor, such thoughts and emotions can safely lead to significant improvements in the quality of your life, your relationships, your physical symptoms and your work.

Weather you want to explore issues about intimacy or patterns of destructive behavior you may notice in yourself, or you have anxiety attacks, or feel depressed, individual therapy or coaching may provide you with the answers you have been looking for.

I offer a free 30 minute consultation to all interested new clients. This is the best way to discover if we are a good match.

COUPLE’S PSYCHOTHERAPY

Couple's Therapy can be a very powerful experience but we have to acknowledge that being part of a couple is a very powerful experience in and of itself. Unwanted patterns of behavior and communication can easily arise out of an intimate situation. We have each learned many things from our families of origin and on our own - but rarely have we learned the SAME things. Therefore, a couple WILL have differences. Couples therapy can offer other ways to deal with conflict.

Literature on Couple's Therapy states that, more often than not, we are attracted to a partner that deals with life in a very different way than we do. Thus the common expression "Opposites Attract". That may be a cliche', but research supports its veracity.

It makes sense. We seek to combine our resources with someone who offers what we lack. Therefore, we seek wholeness. The difficulty is that we are rarely conscious we are doing this. We each have holes in our personality. In the beginning, we are attracted to someone who make us feel whole - in essence, filling up those gaps. But, in time, the mere fact that they make us feel whole reminds us that we are not. We do funny things to protect those wounds and, in doing so, we often end up pushing our partners away or hurting them. Then, we are not only trying to reconcile our childhood wounds, but our brand new wounds. This can create feelings of guilt, abandonment, imprisonment. Some of these feelings are relevant to the present situation, but many of them are just being re-created by the way we were taught to live.

Couple's Therapy provides support, lessons and tools to help each other grow and heal. It can help each individual find safety, trust and connection to his or her partner. The most common problems in a relationship arise out of an inability to communicate and much time is spent in therapy investigating the modes of communication a couple has established. Even when we want to say nice things, we may not have the tools - especially in an intimate situation.

Many couples seek therapy in a desperate situation. You may already be dealing with affairs, drugs, alcohol, religious conflicts, abuse or the age old silent treatment. I treat couples in crisis the same way I treat couples that are not in crisis. I will give you the tools to communicate your needs, your feelings and your desires to each other. I believe that learning to make real contact is the key to having REAL relationships.

It comes down to the fact that, with a lot of water under the bridge, people don't always HEAR what is being SAID. Couple's Therapy is a situation where we can take the time to make sure each person's message is being received intact. Once both partners feel like they are understood, the decision about weather or not two people are right for each other is obvious and clear. We then move on to using this newfound clear communication to WORK with increased fluidity and satisfaction as a couple.

It is important to remember that we are not trying to create a team of two "half-people". We ARE each individuals and, no matter how close we feel to another human being, each one of us stands on our own.

Couple’s therapy provides a safe place for the couple to re-discover the natural roles they take on in a relationship. Sometimes it can teach us how to share these roles or even reverse them where that will create a more satisfying dynamic. Valuing both positions in a conflict is a skill to be proud of in order to balance the power in the relationship and have both partners work together as part of the same team, and not against each other.

GROUP THERAPY

The foundation for my work with groups comes from Irvin Yalom’s existential theories of group process, Gestalt theory and Dance Therapy principles.

I work with groups in the present moment honoring what needs to happen on the NOW. By designing a group agreement in the first and second sessions, the group builds trust and a sense of safety. As the group pass trough formation and normalization stages there is often a period of conflict and deepening of the group. That is when the challenge of group work arises. As people commit on finding resolution and healing as a group, no matter what gets on the way, a lot is learned. During the middle point of group therapy it is common to see the worst behavior, the shadow persona and the survival mechanisms each individual learned in their family of origin. By honoring where each group member is coming from and where each individual is in their journey towards growth, the group starts to untangle from the storming stage. Members of the group are able to learn how to see the other for who they are beyond the lenses of self centered perception. Once the "storm" passes, the group often shifts from process to productive mode. The group becomes active and find common goals to work on individually and as a group. That is when I have seen theater, dance and music spontaneously arise. The true meaning of community art is evoked and sometimes even performed with the idea to share the possibility of togetherness as a society beyond the original nuclear beginnings.

Aside from being a great opportunity to learn how to be present in a group, Group Therapy is a cost effective approach. Through interaction and contact with other human beings, you learn powerful, new ways to relate to your social world.

Here is a description of how a session might look like.

• Check In: We start with a “Check In” around a circle, where members of the group state what they are aware of in the present moment. This may include body sensations, perception of the group, what they feel is in their way of self-actualization and if there is something in particular they would like to process within the group that day. The "Check-In" gives the group a sense of where everyone is, and is an opportunity for each member to become consciously aware of the other members, their struggles and needs, and well as common themes present within the group.
  
• Process: The next phase of the session involves processing a topic of choice. This may be an individual issue, a social issue that arose in the group or a whole group process activity that focuses on common issues such as grief, anger management or communication. This process usually combines verbal interaction, role playing (Gestalt), “sculpting” (Dance therapy), movement or some combination thereof. Drawing from a pool of experience with verbal, Gestalt and Movement-Based Therapy, whatever techniques are most appropriate to the group and topic are employed.
  
• Check Out: Finally we dedicate some time to “check out” of a session. Each member of the group states how the process had impacted them in a personal level, and what they would like to take with them from the session into their lives. This also serves to create a healthy transition from the group process back into daily life.

Members of the group must commit to a minimum of 6 sessions. Different from an individual session, the group will meet even if you can not make it and you will be responsible for paying for that session. You are welcome to keep seeing your individual therapist or make an appointment with me for individual work between group meetings. Groups are formed on October, January and May. Please call or e-mail me with questions or comments.