Here is a brief breakdown on how I incorporate psychodynamic principals in my therapy with patients.

Please note, this is not the only school of therapy I draw upon to when working with my patients and I frequently use other therapies such as CBT, DBT, and ACT in my therapeutic work.

1. Therapy is Collaborative.

Ideally a therapist will not spend the majority of the session speaking and instructing you. Alternatively, if you find yourself spending the majority of the session speaking and the therapist is not offering much in return, that is also not an ideal therapeutic dynamic.

I try to facilitate a free-flowing conversation in our sessions. I’m interested in the things you share with me, so expect that I’ll ask questions and offer alternative ways to think about things that you bring up in the session.

2. Helping You Find the Answers to Your Problems.

My role as a therapist is to empower you to be able to take on things in your life that you otherwise you were unable to. Inherently, people are different, and I know that what would work to solve a similar sounding problem for one patient would not work for a different patient. I try to contextualize every patient’s problems for their specific circumstances, and I want us to brainstorm potential answers that work for you and not for anyone else.

3. Improving and Understanding Relationships

We experience our lives in relation to others. Understanding how our relationships can impact how we feel is a core part of my therapy.

4. Working through Uncertainty.

A lot of life’s decisions are not entirely clear-cut. Sometimes my patients will come to their sessions with dilemmas where there is no entirely right or wrong answer. Helping my patients understand and accept this uncertainty is something I work on with my patients.

5. Processing Emotions and Feelings.

Because the emotion-center of the brain is in a different area than the thinking part of the brain, many patients I have worked with sometimes have trouble putting names and describing emotions that they have felt in the past. This is also known as processing emotions.

6. Identifying Patterns of Behaviors and Opportunities to Change

Some patients may notice patterns in their lives that seem to repeat and are interested in changing these patterns. I try to explore these patterns, acknowledge the presence of these patterns, but also try to identify actionable areas where they may be able to change these recurring themes.