Approach

My practice is ‘integrative’. This means that I specialize in using multiple approaches throughout the therapeutic process. Depending on a given moment, issue or obstacle, different techniques are used to move the process forward as efficiently as possible.

My practice utilizes:

Regardless of theory or technique, my approach emphasizes the client-therapist relationship. This means that the process is collaborative in nature, taking into account your personal timing and comfort level.

EMDR

What Is EMDR?

EMDR is a mind-body technique used to process disturbing memories that contribute to unexplained fears and self-defeating beliefs and behaviors.

What Happens in an EMDR Session?

At first I will take down a thorough history of your life. You and I will then identify a specific symptom or problem to focus on. I will ask you to hold in your awareness a disturbing memory, body sensation, feeling and core belief while I perform ‘bilateral stimulation’ (i.e. eye movements that go back-and-forth or left-right tapping on your knees, hands or upper arms). This process is repeated until you can bring to mind the original memory without feeling any disturbance.

How Long Does Treatment Take?

The type of problem you wish to focus on, your life circumstances and the amount of previous trauma you have had will determine the length of treatment. Sometimes long-term therapy remains necessary. In other cases, ten sessions—performed weekly or every other week—is sufficient.

How Does EMDR Work?

EMDR seems to have a direct effect on the way the brain processes information. With successful treatment, you can maintain clear memories of a traumatic event, yet be free of related negative symptoms. No one knows exactly how EMDR achieves this result, yet studies show that EMDR—one of the most scientifically researched therapeutic methods in use today—is surprisingly effective. To learn more, visit emdria.org.

What Issues Does EMDR Treat?

EMDR is particularly effective at processing single-incident traumas that were overwhelming at the time they occurred. Car accidents, difficult medical experiences, violent crime, exposure to family or community violence, etc. Modified EMDR protocols, when used in combination with other techniques, are also highly effective at processing issues related to more ongoing childhood neglect and/or abuse. Having a skilled EMDR therapist who knows when and how to apply the technique to your particular issue is essential!

Expressive Arts Therapy

How Does EXA Work?

Expressive Arts Therapy uses our capacity for spontaneity and play to help us leap out-of-the-box and discover new options, perspectives, truths and solutions. Our ability to engage creatively with our problems brings new life to the effort (it’s fun!) and helps us connect with aspects of ourselves we didn’t know we had.

What Happens In An EXA Therapy Session?

EXA is a form of Art Therapy that uses multiple creative media to explore and heal psychological wounds. Through training in the clinical use of visual art, drama, creative writing, music and movement, I tailor the therapy to your individual needs. I hold the creative activity itself in an accepting atmosphere—creative process and self-expression matter more then product! You do not need to be an ‘artist’ to do EXA.

What If I’m Not Creative?

Many people experience shyness or inhibition around their creativity. Art therapy is about using art to express and communicate how you feel. I am interested in how you experience the process, not how the art looks in the end. Still, if you are uncomfortable with creative expression, it is not required. Whether art gets made in a session is entirely up to you.

Why Art?

Art Therapy is a way to communicate your inner experience without words. This is important because it is not always easy to talk about life experiences directly, or in a way that conveys the essence of how we feel. This can happen if:

  1. You tend to get ‘stuck-in-your-head’ through over-analyzing thoughts and behaviors.
  2. You’ve been through an overwhelming experience that isn’t easy to talk about.
  3. You naturally process life via images or body sensations, instead of language.
  4. You are focusing on life experiences that happened before you were able to talk.

Tell Me More:

Expressive Arts Therapy is a wonderful way to access and convey our experience through images, scenes, sound and movement. It also allows us to view from the outside our inner stories and to actively engage in shaping the meaning we make of our lives.

Parts Work

What Is ‘Parts Work’?

Everyone has different ‘Parts’ inside of them. Each ‘Part’ has a role to play in our lives. Some ‘Parts’ come into being during times of trauma (abandonment, neglect, abuse, rejection, danger, etc…). When these ‘Parts’ come forward, their role is to help us survive in a traumatic environment. Once the danger has passed, however, our ‘Parts’ can remain in their extreme, protective roles. Over time, their life-saving strategies can become obstacles to leading a happy life.

Parts Work is an innovative and highly effective way of engaging with aspects of ourselves that were once helpful, but have become problematic. It quickly increases our ability to understand and calm even the most intrusive psychological symptoms. In ‘Parts’ work you learn to recognize all symptoms as a ‘Part’ of who you are, and to befriend them! The process, which is evidence-based, enhances calm, strengthens adult-functioning, and can interrupt life-long patterns of negative self-talk, anxiety, ‘stuck-ness’ and impulsivity. There are three primary ‘Parts Models’ that are used widely today: Internal Family Systems (IFS), Structural Dissociation (SD), and Ego State Theory.

What Happens in a ‘Parts Work’ Session?

In a ‘Parts Work’ session you are guided by the therapist to locate a ‘Part‘ of you that you experience as problematic. This process is collaborative, giving you the chance to choose which aspect(s) of yourself (which symptom) you want to focus on. The therapist then uses questions to lead you into communication with those ‘Parts‘ that have become problematic in your life—gently helping you to increase compassion and appreciation for all ‘parts’ of yourself. This process miraculously softens the grip of problematic emotional/psychological symptoms. Sessions are typically experienced as non-overwhelming, enjoyable and energizing.

How Long Does the Treatment Take?

The type of problem you wish to focus on, your life circumstances and the amount of previous trauma you have had will determine the length of treatment. Sometimes long-term therapy remains necessary. In other cases, ten sessions—performed weekly or every other week—is sufficient.

How Does ‘Parts Work’ Work?

‘Parts Work’ brings forward your largest, most generous, most compassionate and capable qualities—and puts them to work in service of resolving problems.

What Issues Does ‘Parts Work’ Treat?

‘Parts Work’ is enormously effective at treating life-long patterns of disfunction. If you have difficult patterns around work, relationships, risk-taking, addiction, indecision, self-criticism/self-doubt, etc., that have been hard to tackle on your own—‘Parts Work’ may have something to offer you!

Does Having ‘Parts’ Mean I’m Crazy?

No! Everyone has different ‘Parts’. A simple example would be that a ‘Part’ of you may love to eat ice cream—and a ‘Part’ of you may know it’s not good for you. These two ‘Parts‘ have different priorities and want to help you in different ways! One ‘Part‘ wants you to enjoy yourself, while the other wants you to think about the long-term impact. Both priorities matter, and both are important. It is normal and helpful to have different ‘Parts‘ that take care of you in different ways.

Education

How is ‘Education’ a part of Therapy?

Education is orienting! It helps you understand the origins of your symptoms and to accurately name what is happening to you. When you feel ‘oriented’ it becomes more and more clear how to interrupt problematic thoughts and behaviors. In Trauma-Informed Therapy, the therapist’s role is to be your ally in investigating and understanding what is happening inside of you. The collaboration between client and therapist is what opens the door to your healing!

What Happens in an ‘Education’ Session?

When ‘Education’ is happening in a session, you may be learning about the science behind your symptoms—the way arousal affects your ability to think, for example—and applying this information directly to your life circumstances. You may be learning the latest research on the effects of certain interventions, so that you can be informed about how to proceed in therapy, or be connected with additional resources outside of therapy. Being informed about your condition and the options open to you puts you in the driver’s seat. It leaves you in control of your treatment in such a way that recovery feels empowering. Being ‘Educated‘ is also emotionally regulating. It calms our emotions when we know what is going on, and what can be done about it. Trauma-Informed therapy is typically experienced as non-overwhelming, orienting and emotionally stabilizing. Education plays an important role in this.

What Issues Does ‘Education’ Help Solve?

Education reduces the experience of confusion, anxiety, and helplessness that often comes with life-long problems, as well as acute symptoms. Understanding how and why things are happening reduces distress and lays the ground work for approaching problems from a calm and curious place. This speeds the work and provides basic support to the healing process.

Attachment Repair

What Is ‘Attachment Repair’?

When our earliest relationships (parents, siblings) were disruptive (i.e, distant, unreliable, absent, controlling, frightening, rejecting) we may develop adult patterns of relating that are problematic (fearful, anxious, ambivalent, angry, critical, cold, numb, etc.). Attachment Repair addresses these patterns and seeks to heal them. ‘Attachment Repair’ helps intimacy to feel better, and relationships in general to be more stable and fulfilling.

Do I Need ‘Attachment Repair’ Work?

If you are someone who longs to feel close with others but, despite your best efforts, has struggled to sustain fulfilling relationships (friends, romance, family), you may benefit from Attachment Repair work. Assessing this need would be part of your therapy.

How Long Does the Treatment Take?

The type of problem you wish to focus on, your life circumstances and the amount of previous trauma you have had will determine the length of treatment. Sometimes many sessions are necessary. In other cases, as few as three or four is sufficient.

How Does ‘Attachment Repair’ Work?

Attachment Repair Work gently activates the human-attachment system and strengthens it. Through repetition and practice, the ability to feel close with others, navigate conflict, negotiate needs, and experience support begins to grow. At first this change is felt primarily within the therapy. As the work progresses, however, clients report experiencing these feelings more and more outside of therapy with others.