WELCOME!

Welcome! Are you considering psychotherapy for the first time, or have you been in therapy and desire a more effective approach?  Are you searching for a therapist that is right for you? I offer mindfulness-based psychotherapy, which is an alternative healing approach that combines applied meditation with conventional talk therapy, and more conventional approaches in my work with individuals, couples, families and adolescents. I am happy to describe the kind of psychotherapy that I offer and discuss your concerns. Feel free to call me. You might also wish to log onto the home page of the UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center for more information on mindfulness and its beneficial uses in mental health treatment and life enhancement in general.

On the issue of the finding the right therapist, please know that there are many highly qualified therapists and many valid types of therapy. For therapy to be helpful, there also has to be a good therapeutic relationship between you and your therapist. That is the indispensable ingredient.

Among health services psychotherapy is unique in that it consists of a relationship between the client and therapist that is therapeutic, built on trust, empathy, skill, knowledge and intuition. This therapeutic relationship is quite unique in that it is not a family relationship, or a friendship kind of relationship, but a professional relationship that is really a process of  one person (client) sharing a depth of thoughts and emotions with another person (therapist)  confidentially. The therapist uses both his/her professional skill and carefully cultivated intuition and awareness and human responses all in the service of helping the client understand him or herself better and reconfigure life, relationships. The therapeutic relationship is the minute-to-minute ebb and flow of intellectual and emotional exchange between the client and therapist which includes spontaneous and real human responses from the therapist, including empathy, caring and genuine regard for the client. Unlike family and friend relationships, the client is free to express and be in ways that she might not among family, friends, co-workers. And the therapist is free to use and share his/her responses to help the client, not to gain anything for him/herself. The agreement between the client and therapist to meet weekly in the therapy office for fifty-five minutes for the client's benefit, keeps a reliable frame and boundary around the therapeutic relationship. These are a few of the factors that make therapy effective. Clearly, for the client to benefit from therapy, his or her therapist must be trained and skilled and licensed but also capable of a therapeutic relationship that the client and therapist build together.

Because the fit between client and therapist is so important, and the effectiveness of therapy depends on it, I focus my techniques and therapeutic approaches on the client-therapist exchange, the therapeutic relationship. It is at the top of my list of what makes therapy helpful to the client. Therefore, in therapy sessions I develop a comfortable therapeutic relationship with my client as I use my training, my skills of listening, interpreting, challenging my clients in a helpful way. I regard each client has having his or her own life project, a wonderful, sometimes daunting but creative challenge to take a person's life circumstances, individual qualities and his or her imagination and construct, and assist the client to improvise and realize a desired life.

I am committed to helping people change, become happier and live more meaningful lives. I know that this happens not just through educating clients or making suggestions, but also through a process of dialogue, sharing and mutual understanding and creating new understandings and ways of living. I think this is a wonderful thing to be part of, and so I cherish this work and feel quite fortunate to use the therapeutic relationships I create with my clients to help them live enriched, meaningful lives. I share my motivation and enthusiasm with my clients and feel that this is important to describe to anyone who is seeking psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is a stable, beneficial personal project that is built on trust, wisdom and collaboration. It is a precious gift.  

"In general, the best therapy is had when the client feels safe and consistently understood, and the therapist is accurately and consistently attuned to the client."