Helping People Find Therapists & Advocating for Ethical and Healthy Therapy & Marriage Counseling Practices

My Approach to Helping

I do mindfulness-based psychotherapy in approaching problems of living. I have 22 years experience in working with anxiety, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, loss, life transitions, relationships concerns, and spiritual development.

Mindfulness-based psychotherapy is about rediscovering the experience of basic goodness, peacefulness, wisdom and calm that is indestructible. It is about becoming present, fully present. It is a bodily as well as mental experience that we can immediately recognize. Through mindfulness our minds begin to expand. We can steadily become aware of, rather than governed by, our feelings and thoughts. Mindfulness is a capacity to watch our mind, our thoughts, emotions, our reactions and sensations, as they are happening. As the capacity of mindfulness grows in us, that which is mindful, the one who is watching, begins to live our life. This helps us find our way.

You are not your problems. Even if you feel like your difficulties are defining you, problems are not who you are, they are something you have that you need to know how to listen to. Much of the suffering that brings one to therapy can be found in negative feelings and beliefs one has towards oneself. The ultimate healing often in reconnecting with one's heart which restores one's sense of basic goodness and value. Buddhism teaches us that our basic goodness is not an invention. It doesn?t need to be created or imagined. It can?t be sold. It can?t be bought. And it can?t be destroyed. It simply becomes hidden to us by our conditioning. Without mindfulness, we are dragged around by our thoughts, emotions (both positive & negative,) reactions, and sensations. We can experience anxiety, depression, post-trauma stress, everyday stress & tension, relationship issues, etc. We believe we are the wave (our thoughts, emotions, etc.) rather than recognizing we are the much more expansive ocean (from which the waves of our experiences arise and return.)

So what can we do? Bring compassion. It may sound very simple, yet it is extremely powerful to cultivate an attitude of loving-kindness towards oneself. I know this to be true personally and have seen it over and over again in my professional life. Sometimes we lose the skillful means to achieve true happiness. Kindness towards ourselves eventually leads to understanding. From understanding, compassion naturally arises. Compassion leads to insight and wisdom. Our meaning and purpose in life becomes clearer. Therapy is a way back to ourselves.

Healing is akin to learning to drive. We go for driving lessons (therapy.) We need the vehicle (our participation,) but the gasoline that will make the car go, that will power the engine of our healing, is mindfulness.

 

More Info About My Practice

I am credentialed for all out-of-network insurance plans. You should check with your insurance company if you have an out-of-network option. In compliance with the Mental Health Parity law, most insurance companies now reimburse an equal percentage for mental health services as would be the case for any other eligible medical claims.
Sliding scale fee, based on financial limitations, are available if it is workable for us both.

 

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

I am a board certified expert in traumatic stress. For 22 years I have helped people with anxiety, ptsd, dissociation and a range of other problems through an integration of meditation, mindfulness, contemplative practices and an in-depth understanding of the neuroscience of emotions. On a technical level, I help people re-calibrate their nervous system and self-regulate their lives- the opposite of a dys-regulation and anxiety in all its forms . I would I am adept at this work, and that I am always learning too.

Services I Provide

• Individual Therapy & Counseling
• Group Therapy
• Consultation
• Clinical Supervision
• Online Counseling / Phone Therapy
• Other

Ages I Work With

• Teens
• Adults
• Elders

Languages I Speak

• English

Groups I Work With

Specializations: Anxiety & fears/panic, Trauma & Post Traumatic Stress; Dissociation; Eating Problems & Body Image Issues; Grief, Death & Dying; Aging; Life Transitions; Women's Issues; Spiritual Development & Mindfulness Meditation

Therapy Approaches I Use

• Body Psychotherapy
• Body-Mind Psychotherapy
• Contemplative Psychotherapy
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
• Focusing
• Guided Therapeutic Imagery
• Holistic Psychotherapy
• Integration of different therapy models
• Internal Family Systems
• Interpersonal Neurobiology
• Mindfulness Based Approaches
• Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
• Object Relations
• Other - Not Listed Here
• Psychodynamic
• Relational Psychotherapy
• Somatic Psychotherapy

Concerns & Issues I Help With

• Abuse: Emotional, Physical, or Sexual
• Trauma
• Addictions & Compulsions
• Life Changes
• Health & Body
• Anxiety, Fear, & Stress
• Emotion Management
• Family Problems
• Social Skills & Problems
• Relationships & Marriage
• Depression & Mood
• Identity Issues
• Spirituality
• Self-Esteem & Confidence
• Sexuality