My Approach to Helping
I offer video or phone therapy sessions via Zoom or Facetime, as well as in-person sessions. Please inquire about availability
Have you had a disturbing experience that makes coping with everyday life difficult? Or perhaps you witnessed something awful that you just can’t get out of your mind? If so, you may be suffering from trauma. Welcome to RK Connections. In my practice, I work with clients who struggle with the psychological, emotional, and physical consequences of past and or ongoing trauma, as they try to avoid repeating personal and professional mistakes that serve only to worsen their traumatic experiences. If you are experiencing challenges such as these, I can help you gradually process your trauma in a supportive and validating environment that is empowering and ultimately freeing.
As a psychotherapist, my initial goal is to make you feel heard, safe, and understood; everything else we accomplish in treatment will follow from this basis. When I work with you, I will blend trauma-focused, mindfulness, and insight-based psychotherapies, and use these approaches to help you cope with everyday challenges and see how they relate to long-standing behavior patterns.
In addition to my trauma specialty, I treat clients with mental health symptoms, including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, and bipolar disorder, as these conditions manifest in personal (family and relationships), professional (work and layoffs), and academic sectors of life.
In my therapeutic work, I integrate the many facets of my 20-year professional career – which have included positions in the corporate, academic, and educational sectors – with general life experience, to provide you with insightful, culturally sensitive treatment.
More Info About My Practice
Self-Pay Fees:
If you have do not have insurance, my fee is $200
Insurance:
Cigna
United Healthcare
Oxford
My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy
My treatment specialties include mood disorders, depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as issues related to life transitions, career counseling, dual diagnosis, self-esteem, the search for identity, meaning, and purpose, and personality disorders, particularly Borderline Personality Disorder.
Had a Negative Therapy Experience?
While therapy should always feel safe, nurturing, and validating, this may not be the experience you had in the past. Your therapist may have been consistently late, may have had difficulty remembering the details of your case, or may have tried to force an interpretation on your issues that you disagreed with. Whatever the issue, remember that one negative psychotherapy experience in particular, does not invalidate the process of psychotherapy in general. Instead, it highlights the fact that so far, you just haven't found the right therapist for you. So if you find yourself turning away from therapy based on a negative experience, I urge you to think again. The issues that brought you to therapy in the first place are still there, and there are some wonderful therapists out there who can help you work through them. This time round, though, choose a service such as Good Therapy to obtain some advance information about your therapist, and in addition, try to find out whatever you can about the therapist from online reviews and personal website material. Once you're in therapy, pay attention to any warning signs that the process doesn't feel right, and be mindful, also, of some resistance at work within you that may be making you less receptive to the process of therapy. So don't give up - your efforts will ultimately pay off, and help you find the therapist that's right for you.
Why Going to Therapy Does Not Mean You are Weak or Flawed
Very often, people will have misconceptions like these about therapy: "seeing a therapist means you're weak or crazy!" or "therapy is for people who can't work out their problems themselves," or "I must have hit a real low if I need a therapist!"
The truth is, though, that seeing a therapist is a sign of strength, rather than weakness. Admitting you have a problem you can't handle by yourself, accepting you need the tools to manage your confusion, loneliness, or doubts, and realizing that you need more help than your significant other or family can give you, these are qualities that demonstrate your strength of character, unselfishness, and desire to grow. So if you're ready to see a therapist to get help with your issues, kudos to you for really showing courage and strength!
Importance of the Client-Therapist Alliance
No matter what kind of therapy you go to, or type of therapist you see, the one thing every theory and therapist will agree on is the importance of the client-therapist alliance. As a therapist, my first task is to connect with you, irrespective of differences in our backgrounds or circumstances. Once that connection, or alliance is there, it will allow you to feel greater trust in the therapeutic process and the work we do together. And connection + trust = deeper work and greater growth.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.