Types of Therapy

My Approach to Helping You Heal

My goal is to use my psychotherapy knowledge and skills to help my clients gain acceptance, understanding and compassion; to guide and support them through their process of healing and finding peace of mind.

• Attachment Theory

  I focus a lot of my work on Attachment Theory. I believe that our primary attachments, which occurs in our family of origin, play a huge role in the formation of our personalities. While mainstream mental health is based on a disease, or medical model, identifying diagnosis of mental disorders and treating symptoms, I am convinced that we know a great deal about what causes emotional and psychological distress. Early attachment wounds are often key to understanding ourselves, and healing from them goes a long way.

• Somatic Experience

  I incorporate other systems and knowledge bases into my work. I am impressed with the somatic work done through Somatic Experience, developed by psychologist Peter Levine. This strikes me as essential work in helping people heal from trauma. Somatic therapy operates under the understanding that trauma is energy that is stuck in our bodies and gets triggered in somatic ways. Helping clients to reach inside and identify where in their body they are holding tension, exploring where that tension might come from and working with them on ways to release that stuck energy can provide an wonderful sense of release.

• Internal Family Systems

  I am also impressed and learning more about Internal Family Systems, developed by psychologist Richard Swartz. This has become very popular recently. This theory applies a systems model to the individual, acknowledging that we all have different parts: protector parts, and manager parts that work to keep us safe and protect us from unpleasant inner wounds, which tend to be exiled, disowned. When the manager and other protector parts are ineffective, we call in firefighters, such as drugs, alcohol, sex, work - things that may be more effective in keeping our emotional wounds away. The problem is that the wounds do not go away no matter how hard we pretend. IFS holds that we all have a true self, that is independent of all other parts, and works to help the client trust and develop this self, and use it to heal, by getting the other parts to back off and allow our true self to blossom and address the inner wounds and integrating our experiences in a process of healing.

• Solution Focused Hypnotheraphy

  I do Solution Focused Hypnotheraphy, a process of guiding the client into a trance state, by winding stories and making connections relavant to the client's life and situation. This is not hypnotherapy where the therapist controls the person, rather I speak in a soft voice to the client's unconscious mind, helping the client allow his conscious wandering mind to drift away. This is a very relaxing process and works well as a treatment for anxiety. It was developed by reknown psychiatrist Milton Erickson. I learned it from Bill O'Hanlon, who was taught by Dr. Erickson. Dr. Erickson was famous for developing what was considered unacceptable orthodox but very effective treatments along with SFH. It has been used for treating various forms of anxiety and depression, and even for curing worts.

• Couples Emotional Focused Therapy

  I use Emotional Focused Therapy with couples. Psychologist Susan Johnson spent years developing this work, based on attachment theory. Everyone carries their individual baggage of wounds and beliefs into a relationship, and they play out throughout the relationship. Feeling safe in a relationship to speak our minds, to say, sincerely, this is my experience, this is what it felt like for me in a certain situation is key. It may come from my family of origin or something else. Then to have this honest expression of our true feelings be received with acceptance, understanding and compassion and to have our partner reciprocate draws couples together and reduces the tension between them.