What Is Therapy With Me Like…?

In therapy, you can expect me to be interactive, direct, curious, encouraging and compassionate. I believe (and research reflects that) most change occurs outside of the consulting room, so expect to do homework of one kind or another and to test and apply whatever it is you work on in session in your day-to-day life. Your job is to come prepared to work emotionally and intellectually and open yourself up in the service of meeting your personal growth goals. I operate based on your stated goals, not my preconceptions, and so work flexibly to identify obstacles to those goals, and help you achieve them.

I think of myself as working in three modes:

  1. Relieving immediate distress and suffering;

  2. Working with you to put in place the resources and practices that make that possible;

  3. Collaborating on a more extended basis to help you engage most meaningfully in the world as your values demand.

    Generally, treatment length varies a great deal by person, their goals, ambitions, and thirst for change. When we first meet for your initial session, we’ll identify your goals, your background and history and the time frame during which you expect to devote to therapy.

    Brief therapy can take as little as 3-10 sessions. Medium term therapy, for those focused on functioning better and staying that way, 10-20 sessions, and those who want to dig in deeper or have extensive histories of difficulty or more complex disorders, 40-80 sessions. I do not regard therapy as a lifestyle, but leave it to you to decide when you have finished your work. It is not uncommon that I work with an individual in a concentrated way on a particular set of goals on a brief basis, and then later see them for a different set of goals. I am flexible, but will also give you my best recommendation for expected length of treatment based on your stated goals for yourself.

    I am a feminist, and have always championed cultural diversity and humility in my career(s), and worked with a broad cross-section of individuals, children and families, including people of many cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and LGBTQ individuals. I am always learning, and believe that my job as a therapist is to both guide and learn from each of the people I am privileged to help.