People seek therapy when they feel their life is not working. I do not offer the easy quick fix or the promise of a feel-good solution. Rather, it is a commitment to provide the support and guidance to help the patient discover the strength and wisdom to live his life in an informed and fully actualized way.
I view the value of psychotherapy as helping people know what they want, why they have not achieved what they want, and how they can get there. The therapy work brings the patient in touch with what he wants for his life, learn about what has gotten in the way of his fulfillment, and discover effective ways of living.
There are two principles underlying the
therapeutic process that I offer to patients:
Knowledge is Power, and Experience brings Change.
In my practice, therapy provides a unique opportunity for discovery. The patient is given a space that is dedicated to acceptance, emotional freedom, and the desire for better. In this space, she gets to know herself—the wants and fears that have influenced her life choices, the defenses and anxieties that guide her lifestyle, the questions and hopes that guide her decision-making. Armed with a fuller knowledge about oneself, the person has more power in pursuing her relationships and work.
This self-knowledge is achieved through the exploration in the therapy sessions. Far from being a removed observer, I immerse myself in the emotional experience with the patient. With me as an informed and emotionally safe partner-participant, the patient learns where he gets stuck or sabotages himself, and he also experiences new ways of relating and living. Change thus happens through this Doing and Being in the guided, safe context of the therapeutic relationship.
