Approach

General Practice

We live in a complex world and are pulled in many different directions, often feeling like we cannot give sufficient time or attention to our careers, families, and interests. We may feel overwhelmed by our perceived inability to juggle the different areas of our lives and this can lead to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, career difficulties, and parenting and relationship conflicts.

These problems may feel insurmountable. An individual may feel stuck in unhealthy or maladaptive coping mechanisms.

Through a compassionate and authentic therapeutic relationship, an individual can learn to express him/herself in a healthy way and can gain a sense of self-efficacy in dealing with life and daily stresses. Ultimately, this can lead to a meaningful, fulfilling, and multi-textured life.

Revealing one's problems and insecurities to a stranger can be difficult. I work with my clients to develop a safe and non-judgmental environment, where there is a mutual sense of authenticity, empathy, and trust. In collaboration and active engagement with the client, we develop a treatment plan based on his/her individual needs and goals.

I have extensive post-graduate training in family and adolescent treatment and I am conversant in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. In addition to individual psychotherapy, I work with families and couples. Family treatment may include issues of chronic and /or terminal illness and its effect on the family as well as the struggles of t he “sandwich generation” where couples are coping with the needs of both their children and their aging parents.

Approach for Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are greedy illnesses. Left untreated, they will take everything they can, silencing the sufferer’s true voice with symptoms of starving, binging, purging, and overexercising. They become all-consuming and all-encompassing, leaving no space for anything nor anyone else.

Sufferers may feel a false sense of accomplishment and control. However, she/he becomes trapped by the rigidity and destructive demands and behaviors of the eating disorder, itself.

As a psychodynamic therapist, with personal experience and professional expertise with eating disorders, I know that individuals suffering from anorexia or bulimia may have similar symptoms, yet the underlying causality is unique to each individual. Paying careful attention to this, I customize treatment for each client according to her/his needs and goals. This may include: collaboration with physicians and nutritionists and family therapy. I have also been trained in the Maudsley Method, and where appropriate this would be part of a treatment plan.

In order to achieve a lasting recovery, it is vital to address the issues and stresses which led to the eating disorder and to find positive ways to deal with them.

Drawing upon my own struggle with an eating disorder, I work with the client to foster a mutual sense of authenticity, empathy, and trust. Helping the client to draw upon her/his own courage, tenacity, reliance, and hope so that she/he can disempower the eating disorder and connect to her/his true feelings and voice. I believe that this will ultimately be more fulfilling and meaningful than the chains of the illness.