Treatment Philosophy
Psychotherapy is a process of liberation. It can free you from painful symptoms such as anxiety and depression. It can free you from self-defeating behaviors. It can free you from the fears that keep you from becoming who you want to be. It can free you from habituated and unsatisfying ways of relating to others. It can free you and your partner from being stuck in ways of relating that cause frustration, discontentment and unhappiness. It can free you from a negative past and open you up to a promising future.
Psychotherapy can help you achieve these freedoms because it occurs in the context of a very special, professional relationship with a trained clinician. Psychotherapy is not just sitting down with a therapist and chatting about what you did during the past week. It should be a very focused process with clearly stated goals that you and your therapist develop together. It should be focused on addressing the core problem that you are struggling with.
My approach to psychotherapy is relational. That is, I believe that all emotional distress and psychological problems occur in the context of human relationships. The solution to these problems is also relational. This means that the true healing quality of psychotherapy resides in the professional relationship you have with the therapist. Once understanding, trust, openness and honesty are achieved in the therapeutic relationship, then you will develop the strength necessary to make the changes in your life that will free you from the symptoms that originally brought you into therapy. Psychotherapy is a process of eliminating self-doubt, fear and emotional turmoil while promoting self-knowledge, self-confidence and personal growth.
I view each client as an individual with her or his own unique pattern of relating. This pattern of relating was developed over a lifetime to help each client survive psychologically, first in the family he or she grew up in, and then in the larger world outside the family. Unfortunately, the tools we learned and used to survive in earlier stages of our lives may no longer be effective. In fact, the same skills you used to survive in the past may today cause psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, fears and relationship problems. The main goal of psychotherapy is to learn new, more productive, meaningful, fulfilling and symptom-free ways of relating.
Although many of the problems clients suffer from have their roots in the distant past, the therapeutic approach I use focuses primarily on the present and how these problems are manifest in the client's current life. We cannot undo the past but we can change the present, and it is in the present that psychotherapy is most effective.
Most of the clients I work with complete the therapeutic process within six months to a year. Many clients begin to see symptom relief within eight or nine sessions and see significant changes within 20 sessions. The actual rate of change varies with each individual and the nature of his or her problem.
I am not a provider for any HMOs because I believe HMOs are seriously flawed. Clients can be abandoned before their treatment is complete simply because the HMO may severely limit the number of sessions, not because it is therapeutically indicated, but because it is financially expedient and profitable for the HMO. HMO reviewers with little or no clinical experience, and certainly no real understanding of your individual situation preauthorize treatment decisions, including the type of treatment you will receive and the length of treatment. Privacy and confidentially may also be eroded by HMOs. And finally, if you have ever called for an initial appointment with an HMO provider, in most instances you will find that it can take two to three days before you get a call back, and your first appointment may have to be scheduled several weeks away, and then often with a clinician who has limited experience.
I provide the opposite of what you will experience in most HMOs. I return phone calls promptly, and when you talk with me you will not feel rushed or as if you are taking up too much of my time. If I do not have an opening in my schedule for you within the next week, I will offer a referral. I will respect and honor your privacy and confidentiality. I have over 30 years of clinical experience that I will draw from in helping you meet your goals. I will respect you as an individual (or couple) and provide you with reliable, effective therapy and counseling.
Please note that I do not provide psychotherapy over the phone. All sessions are held in my office in Wynnewood, PA.

Return
|