An experienced psychotherapist should not follow a one-size-fits-all approach to working with you. A good process first assesses your reasons for seeking services and your relevant life history. As the issues to be addressed become more clear, several models of change - or more often, a combination of theories - will drive the approach. We can explore together what works best for you.

That said, our custom approach will typically include some of the following models:

Psychodynamic psychotherapy heightens awareness of your unconscious mind. The less aware you are of your unconscious motives, feelings, and thoughts, the more they influence you and the more you keep repeating unsuccessful patterns. For example, we all have values that influence the direction of our lives. Some of these are obvious and well known, like valuing exercise or being a good friend. Others are not well known, but still guide the direction of our lives. You can understand how the “value” of “perfection” or “never being vulnerable” wields influence, whether you are aware of its operation on your behavior or not.

Attachment theory holds that some ways of relating to others are learned in childhood, between you and your primary caretakers. Research shows that these relational dynamics will unavoidably happen later in life between you and many other people (including your therapist) because you don’t know how to act otherwise. When those natural tendencies show up in the stories you tell in session, your therapist can spot the patterns and explore alternative, more helpful, options of being with someone. Sometimes these patterns show up in session, and again your therapist can point them out and can deal with them live in the moment.

Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach that assesses how and where a person can get stuck in fight, flight, and freeze responses, and provides tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. The model facilities the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. Clients are gently guided to develop increasingly tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

Mindfulness practice is based in part on the neuroscience concept of “neural plasticity,” which means that we have the capacity to grow new neural connections throughout our lifespan and that certain mental experiences (such as talking to a therapist) can change the structure and function of the brain and mind. Mindful psychotherapy helps create ‘space’ in the mind between an event and a reaction to it, and in that ‘space’ we have more freedom and can more consciously choose healthy and adaptive responses.

Cognitive therapy holds that your thoughts about something significantly influence the experience. Particularly when you are anxious or depressed, you are probably thinking about life in a negative and pessimistic way. These distorted thoughts feel so real and valid that they are experientially believed. Cognitive techniques identify negative patterns, challenge distortions, and help you grow and develop more positive and realistic thought patterns.

Empathy is the experience of “feeling felt” by having any and all aspects of your self be seen, valued, and understood. It is highly comforting and healing. Facing difficulties is easier when you know you don’t have to face it alone, particularly when your life history includes the all-too-frequent experience of not being seen, valued, or understood.