My Approach

My goal is to help you achieve improvements in day-to-day living -- with a compassionate and collaborative approach.

Individuals come to me with difficulties in school, work, or relationships -- problems which aren't already responding to efforts to make change on their own. My evaluation seeks out underlying biological, psychological, and social factors, with special attention to ways in which you yourself might be experiencing an emotional conflict which needs to be discussed and worked through.  If indicated, I also prescribe medications.

Privacy and confidentiality are essential to our work.  I handle your information with care, and if I need to consult with colleagues, I take measures to protect your anonymity.


FOR COLLEAGUES:

My clinical experience is in-depth and wide-ranging.  As such, I do offer case consultation services for psychotherapists (of any mental health background, not only psychiatry) who are:
--challenged by a particular case (experiencing their patient or client as being difficult, or finding that a treatment has stalled), or
--preparing their patients or clients for transitions happening in the life of the therapist (parental leave, illness, retirement, etc.)

For early-career therapists, or for therapists who are new to solo practice, I invite you to consider your own psychotherapy as part of your professional development; please inquire with me about a consultation to help you find a good fit, either with myself or with another experienced colleague.

My primary orientation as a therapist is psychoanalytic or psychodynamic, and I listen carefully for ways in which a treatment is being influenced by factors just outside one's awareness, often rooted in our early life experiences.  My foundational clinical experiences include evaluation and treatment of: mental health issues in college students living away from home, severe and persistent mental illness (including psychotic disorders), post-traumatic stress disorder (including combat-related trauma and military sexual trauma), addictions (primarily alcohol and other substance use disorders), and eating disorders (including anorexia and bulimia).    I have some familiarity with cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavioral, EMDR, 12-step, and motivational interviewing techniques -- and I enjoy working with individuals who have already benefited from some of these modalities.