Therapeutic Approaches

In psychotherapy, there are different types of treatment philosophies, training and education. Many therapists use a combination of treatment approaches with their clients. In my own work, I primarily employ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Therapy. Cognitive-behavior therapy focuses on how your thoughts and beliefs shape your feelings and behavior. One of the goals is to enhance your ability to manage the discrepancies between emotion and logic, each of which underlies our decisions and our behavior. Cognitive-behavior therapy is effective in treating a broad range of emotional and mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, significant life events, addiction/compulsion disorders and relationship issues. Cognitive-behavioral therapy interfaces well with personal coaching techniques (part of my training and work that I’ll discuss later), being goal-oriented and involving behavioral tasks designed to enhance your quality of life.

Interpersonal Therapy focuses on the client’s relationships with important people in his or her life. The relationship between the therapist and the client allow for understanding relationships, enhancing communication, receiving feedback and expressing important thoughts and feelings.

In each of these therapeutic modalities, I join in your process of navigating the natural and inevitable events that occur in the course of our lifetimes, such as significant change and loss, aging, workplace stressors and health challenges, and helping you to understand and navigate them more effectively.

There may be times when it appears that alternative or additional approaches, such as medication or couples therapy may also be helpful. It is my role to help you navigate these important and complex choices.

In my relationship/couples work I employ many of the techniques found in Imago Therapy, focusing on successful communication and negotiating the inevitable and important differences between individuals.