I understand psychotherapy as a relationship in which you and I attend to issues that matter to you. I work with anxiety and depression, shame and guilt, trust and self-esteem, loss and grief, fear and sorrow, anger and despair, loneliness and relationships, inner children and whole inner families, concerns about sex and intimacy, communication problems with family, friends, and colleagues, and other forms of emotional and psychological pain and unhappiness, as well as with questions about identity and the journeys of discovery many people wish to make to enhance their self-awareness.

As a client I worked extensively with a Freudian psychoanalyst, a Jungian analyst, a Buddhist Jungian, and an eclectic New Age therapist. In addition, as a student and intern I studied under mentors who specialized in Self-Psychology, Object Relations, Gestalt, Humanistic, and Transpersonal work. I participated in encounter groups, Esalen workshops, and est; studied psychic meditation, creativity, dreamwork, and the dynamics of teamwork; and as a client went through full courses in several bodywork disciplines, including Rolfing and Hellerwork. To this day I continue to take courses, have individual and group consultations, and visit my own therapist periodically.

I know that everyone finds life disturbing or distressing from time to time, and none of us can be entirely self-sufficient. If we are truly going to resolve the difficulties that prevent or inhibit us from experiencing love, intimacy, achievement, satisfaction, and full self-expression, we all can use an extra pair of trained eyes and ears at different points in our lives. Those outside perceptions may help us understand what we cannot see, or help us grasp something that is otherwise outside our comprehension, or simply witness the important periods of transition for which our society often has inadequate rituals.

The inevitable problems of managing a human life often result in a person’s feeling stuck, but when those problems can be resolved, then peace and joy, love and respect, curiosity and excitement, then knowledge and sometimes even wisdom become possible. This is why I think of psychotherapy as one way to help heal the spirit and soul as well as the personality, and to enable the growth of a whole person.