I provide psychotherapy for individuals ranging from early adolescence (age 13) through the life span. I am happy to speak with you over the phone at no cost before meeting in person in order to answer any questions you might have for me before coming in for an initial consultation. My sessions are 45 minutes long and we will spend our first few meetings working together to help understand what the current stressors are in your life that are bringing you into my office now, what you may have tried in the past that has worked, and what has not. We will decide on some goals for treatment as well as begin to establish a basic working relationship, the key factor in any effective therapy. Extensive therapy outcome research has shown that it is the goodness of fit and matching of personalities and styles between the therapist and patient that is the determining factor in the success of therapy.

If I had to name the most important goal of therapy, it would be increasing flexibility in how to cope with the stress in our lives. We may not be able to change all of our circumstances, but we can certainly alter how we perceive, approach, and react to them.

My approach to treatment is a depth-oriented one; this means we will address how patterns of relating to yourself, other people, and the world around you that you likely learned early in childhood are no longer working for you. Often, this means bringing thoughts and feelings that have remained unconscious into conscious awareness. This therapeutic approach is demonstrated by research to be highly effective in treating a wide variety of symptoms and as having long-lasting effects.

My style is fairly interactive, although we will work together to discover what way of being in therapy is most likely to be helpful for you. If we can see your particular difficulties or symptoms as a way of expressing conflicts that cannot quite yet be thought about or articulated, we can recognize that they have an important meaning for you in your life, even if they feel unhelpful or counterproductive to you. Good therapy involves both developing an understanding as to how and why you respond to stressors in certain ways and finding better, more useful ways of handling these situations.

While I do not accept insurance, I am happy to provide you with all necessary paperwork in order to assist you in receiving appropriate reimbursement should you wish to bill your insurance carrier. To file your insurance claim, fill out the employee/student/insured portion of the claim form, attach the bill, and submit to your carrier. I prefer that you pay your bill in full and receive reimbursement from your insurance, since it is not usually possible to know exactly how much they will pay. I urge you to check with your insurance provider about deductibles, allowable fees, and percentage they will cover.