My Approach to Services

My Approach to Psychotherapy and Coaching Services

You can change your life to be, do, and obtain precisely what you want. But this must start with a decision on goals and a willingness to be flexible in your beliefs and actions to achieve them. I take an active, engaged, and empowered approach to psychotherapy and coaching services to accomplish this. My approach to providing clinical services involves seven main components to help you achieve the success you desire:

1. Connectedness
The collaborative and professional effort between clinician and patient/client is the foundation of all change. This “therapeutic connection” involves a supportive interpersonal context to explore and learn new ways of thinking, behaving, and feeling. A strong working relationship is vital to change and growth; this is part of all my services.

2. Goal Oriented
To succeed in psychotherapy and coaching, we must have a plan of what we are trying to achieve. Therefore, during the first few sessions, we will set long-term goals to work toward and short-term objectives that will be achieved along the way.

3. Cognitive-Behavior Foundation
Although I have trained in several models of psychotherapy, my expertise is in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT). This approach assumes that many difficulties are due to one’s perceptions, how one copes, and the consequences of one’s actions. Therefore, when working with you, this is the primary way I conceptualize or understand your case and formulate a way to help.

4. Integrative CBT Approach
As noted, my primary approach is the use of CBT. However, I recognize that there is no “one size fits all” approach to helping people change. Therefore, beyond my training in CBT, I have also had training and experience in other schools of thought, including psychodynamic and humanistic therapies and what is referred to as “3rd wave CBT” (e.g., DBT, ACT, EMDR, etc.). With this, I blend elements from different approaches and personalize interventions to your needs. In other words, I use a “what size fits you” approach.

5. Learning Focused
Psychotherapy and coaching are learning processes. The goal is to create opportunities for new and adaptive learning and behavior outside the office. I will focus time on providing strategies to help you perceive and respond to life events in a proactive, goal-directed, realistic, and constructive way. This will often involve tasks or activities to do between sessions.

6. Evidence-Based
My treatment uses interventions, strategies, and approaches based on scientific knowledge and principles. This is important to ensure we focus on methods of change and progress with a strong track record. However, the idea of “evidence-based” goes beyond using information from the scientific literature, and it also involves the way we monitor progress. Thus, we will use data to ensure I have evidence of your progress.

7. Collaborative
In addition to the collaborative interaction with you, working as part of a treatment team is sometimes essential. Therefore, with your consent, I will maintain a collaborative relationship with your primary care physician (PCP) or other providers to ensure continuity in your care.