Some issues clients bring to psychotherapy are:

• anxiety

• depression and mood disorders

• addictions (substance abuse, and process addictions like gambling)

• interpersonal and relationship issues

• parental guilt

• conflict in parenting styles

• communication with partners and children (including adult children)

• life transitions

• stress management

• "empty nest syndrome"

• "sandwich generation" (managing both childcare and eldercare)

• time management

• personal growth

I am often asked what my approach is.  The short answer is comprehensive.  Research demonstrates that the relationship between therapist and client - the "therapeutic alliance" - supersedes any particular type of treatment approach.  That being said, I have been most influenced by Carl Rogers' paradigm of what is called "person-centred psychotherapy".  In a nutshell, this approach holds at its most fundamental value the concept of unconditional positive regard.  This means that sitting in a room with a therapist who is completely accepting of the client, radically empathic, and has a drive to understand the client's unique circumstances, has the power in and of itself to heal.   Everything else I do flows from this.

I draw from many other approaches as well: cognitive behavioral therapy (how thinking influences our behavior, and vice versa), solution-focused (helping the client find solutions to their problems by exploring options and offering encouragement), motivational interviewing (facilitating conversations about behavioral change from a place of partnership and respect), family systems (the idea that what happens to one person in a family happens to everyone in the family, even though the manifestations may be different), and psychodynamic/attachment (the impact of early childhood experiences in our families of origin on current struggles).

In addition, an amazing thing about social work practice is the recognition of what are called the "social determinants of behavior" - the ways in which our social environment (poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, political marginalization, bullying, workplace stress, challenging children, and so forth) can affect mental health in and of itself.

Most importantly, while I believe that understanding how past and present factors influence who we are and how we behave, they need not limit our ability to have joyful lives.