My Approach to Helping

Psychotherapy for Mindfulness Meditators and Those Interested in Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness can help us see when we need extra help, and can help the process of helping ourselves.

Have you noticed difficult thoughts and feelings that repeat in ways that cloud your judgment or sap your confidence? Whether you are a long-time mediator or new to mediation, I invite you to consider psychotherapy as a way to enhance you meditation practice by approaching repeating mental, emotional and behavioral patterns in a new way.

As a long-time meditator and an experienced psychotherapist, I would be pleased to work with you. I have found that psychotherapy has helped my meditation practice and that my meditation practice has helped me in my own therapy and as a therapist. With open willingness and honesty, real change can come.

While we can't control the ceaseless change in our lives, we can find ways to ease some of the helplessness and isolation of long-standing pain patterns. The protected nature of therapy provides safety for you to explore. This can help restore your dignity, your sense of humor and your trust in your intuitive wholeness.

I work with people who are struggling with anxiety or depression, relationship problems and other difficult circumstances, including chronic emotional and physical illness and long-standing struggles from early difficulties in your lives.

I work with meditators in small groups cultivating self-compassion toward their pain and suffering. Some meditation experience is required for these groups, including taking the 8-week Mindful Self Compassion class.

There is more information about my meditation background and current work, and about adults with other concerns that I work with, on my website, listed above. You do not have to be a meditator to come see me in therapy.

More Info About My Practice

My hourly fee is $175.00 an hour. If this is more than you can afford, please contact me; often I find a way to make a lower fee arrangement that works if circumstances seem appropriate. Please contact me if you are interested in couple's therapy -- my fee is $200.00 and I have limited spaces for couples.

Small group fees are $40.00 to $55.00 a session.

Regarding using insurance to pay for therapy, I am accepting Anthem/Blue Cross for daytime sessions. I am not currently taking other insurance.

If you have Anthem/Blue Cross, I accept your co-payment and the insurance company payment. Please call your insurance to find out what your current co-payment is, if you have a deductible, if you have a limited number of sessions authorized, and if you need an authorization number before you start using your mental health benefit. It's good to be informed about all of this before you start using your mental health insurance.

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

I work with individuals in crises and also with long-standing problems. My approach is to proceed with care around difficult issues, and find out how you were educated to understand your feelings, your interactions with others, your own capabilities.

I have worked a lot with people with chronic physical and emotional health difficulties.

If you are in crisis, I have seen that talking about the nature of the crisis and the difficult feelings that arise can ease some of the distress.

I have found that giving the therapy relationship time to develop gives us both a sense of the direction of the work and gives you confidence in the process.

One way to describe the goal of therapy is to develop confidence in knowing yourself with kindness.