My Approach

The first order of business in therapy is the relationship between client and therapist. It's the foundation on which any good therapy is built. So my first goal in therapy is simply to connect, person to person.

To this end, I've found it best to be myself as a therapist. If I'm not authentic, it's hard for my clients to be authentic. Clients, therefore, get the real me. I'll tell you when I don't know. I say sorry when I screw up. And if you tell me something hard, you will feel like I get it. I'm good at getting it.

I've seen a lot, both in my work as a therapist and on my own journey. I'm not scared to sit with someone in the darkness of confusion, fear, shame, rage, or grief. I'm also not too afraid to have a good laugh in session.

A human being is capable of a vast range of thoughts, emotions, desires, and behaviors. I don't judge any of it. I believe anything a person experiences inside themselves makes sense in the context of their genetics and life story. 

I don't believe in normal. Healthy comes in a lot of different shapes and sizes. Sometimes the biggest change we can make is to accept who we are and proceed accordingly. That said, there are patterns inside us that are functional and patterns that are dysfunctional.

The question is how to change the dysfunctional ones.

I use three main modalities in therapy: 

• Sensory Motor Psychotherapy
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• EMDR

These therapies share the perspective that change happens most effectively when you get outside the bounds of conversation often found in therapy where client and therapist talk about an issue. Instead, these methods seek to get more directly into the issue. 

Sensory Motor, IFS, and EMDR each has its own method for bringing up the material - images, emotions, body sensations, beliefs, states of mind - that underlies the issue. When this underlying material is present in the therapy room, it can be worked with and changed. 

It is essential during this process that the client remain grounded in the present, that they feel safe, and that they feel a sense of control. The goal is not catharsis - the release of strong emotions. The goal is to witness what was unable to be integrated from a past experience in a grounded way, allowing the information to be processed in a new way that no longer causes harm.

This kind of work can be intense. It is therefore extremely important to me to respect the unique mind-body system of each client and work at a pace where the client feels safe.