Treatment is about promoting change, and this change must come from within. As a therapist, I ask a great deal from my clients when I ask them to change, as change is incredibly hard. This journey towards change requires both the client and myself to work collaboratively and deeply. It is for this reason that the rapport between myself and the client is so vital. While my approach to treatment is greatly influenced by psychoanalysis and relational therapy, I also employ aspects of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), specifically, the principle of radical genuineness to build rapport with my clients. I aim to provide all my clients with the space to explore their underlying feelings, thought processes and behaviors so that they can engage in change.

My Theoretical Grounding

Current trends in the field of counseling and psychology favor cognitive behavioral approaches over psychoanalytic orientations. There are a multitude of contributing factors that impact this trend. Cognitive behavioral approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution Focused Therapy, and Exposure Therapy, are focused on the “here and now,” have easily measured outcomes, which contribute to their acceptance and popularity. They are goal directed models with a clear beginning middle and end. Furthermore, such goal directed models tend to have shorter treatment episodes, which are more appealing to insurance providers due to their cost-effectiveness. 

In contrast to these approaches, psychodynamic approaches, emphasize the important impact of past experiences on current functioning, do not have easily measured outcomes, and while the approach does have a beginning, middle, and end, these phases are not clearly defined. While I truly appreciate the benefits and value of cognitive behavioral approaches, and utilize them often; I am a firm believer in the importance of exploring and understanding one’s past. Our past informs our present and if we are to understand our present, we must understand our past. While I am firmly rooted in a psychodynamic approach to treatment, I am also trained in and use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Mindfulness, Exposure Therapy, and Gottman Couples Therapy. Most recently I have also begun using virtual reality for both EMDR and exposure therapy treatment.