Behavior and Play Therapy for Children
I no longer accept children and youth in my practice. It is true that kids can benefit from therapy but I have found that the best way to help children is to provide in-depth consultation to parents. If you think your child needs therapy, I recommend you consider it for yourself. What parent wants to pass their problematic ways of thinking and interacting onto their child?
Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy
The success of psychotherapy is based on the therapeutic relationship between clinician and client. Social work is unique because it emphasizes the need to understand you as whole person and “meet you where you are at.” In twenty years of practice, I can say with confidence that the key to being happy is to be good. There are objective laws that guide our relationships with ourselves and others. Every person I have encountered in therapy is suffering because they fail to understand how to be truly good to themselves and others. No matter the trauma, loss or mental illness this is the case. Kabbalah teaches us that “good” is defined by receiving in order to share; “evil” is defined by receiving in order to receive. This means that when we are kind to ourselves, we are generous with thoughts, words and actions toward ourselves and others we are going to feel better. It is good therefore to use discernment instead of judgement when making decisions that affect ourselves and others.
In the beginning of our therapeutic relationship, we take time to understand where you are today. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually each one of us grows and slips backward in our lives. In order for you to make the significant change this work offers, I help you assess where you are in these four categories. We then make quantifiable goals in order to help you take concrete action toward the changes you want to make.
From a neurological perspective our behavior is coded in neural networks; commonly referred to as, “What fires together wires together.” These hard-wired patterns keep dysfunctional behavior in place. Our goal is to transform these patterns so you experience what you desire: hope, joy, confidence and clarity. I also am trained in Brainspotting, an evidence-based intervention that allows us to tap into the amygdala to make lasting change.
Happiness
is closer than you think.