My Approach to Helping
My approach begins with conversation that can build rapport and trust with the individual or couple so that we can feel comfortable talking together about difficult and personal matters. I am curious to find out what specifically the person or couple came to therapy for? What are they looking to deal with or change in themselves or their relationship? We discuss the various concerns or painful circumstances that brought them to therapy so as to get a detailed picture of their issues. We then together formulate high priority individual or couple's goals, and build in accountability and achievability..
My therapeutic approach involves a psycho-dynamic approach, that sets out to understand the problem and its origins. I am particularly interested in accessing the individual'scouples habitual ways of thinking and feeling about their problems and patterns, and the strategies they have used to date to deal with them. This provides an understanding of how they have come to be where they are. We are then much better equipped to develop fresh approaches to undo the 'defaulting-to triggered-negative-communication-patterns.' Then we work together to motivate the individualcouple to develop relational communication, a more skillful means of relating from themselves to their loved ones. The therapy begins to help the individual or members of a couple to find the courage and 'sensitivity' to confront 'old deep hurts and angers,' within themselves or their relationship, and learn how to more effectively communicate and navigate these troubled areas.