My objective is to help people reach their potential as productive members of society, to help them feel increasingly more comfortable with themselves, and to help them improve the quality of their relationships with others. I am passionate about the work I do, as I see the significant difference therapy can makes in a person’s life.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to train with some of the top therapists in the field, including Dr. Shloimie Zimmerman PsyD, Leslie Rawlings LCSW, Pia Mellody LISAC. I am still in contact and in ongoing supervision with some of them.

In the beginning phase of therapy, I concentrate on certain factors that will enable the development of a place where change can take place. First, I focus on whatever it takes to make the client feel comfortable and safe. I feel this is essential because the process of therapy provokes feelings of vulnerability and it is difficult to do effective work if the client does not feel secure. Next, I am diligent in making sure clients are engaged in the therapy. In order to bring about positive change, a client must feel that he/she is an active participant in the process. I also make sure to properly assess and conceptualize each case so that I can provide every client with appropriate treatment, a treatment that will be most helpful in addressing his/her specific issues. Finally, I take time to provide psycho-education on the nature of the issues, its possible source, and how we, together, are going to treat it.

Intervention begins with helping clients become aware of the basic emotions that humans experience and the thinking patterns that go with understanding those emotions. Clients learn to introspect and notice how their thinking alters their emotions. They learn to normalize their experience, to explore their reality, and to see when their thinking might not be entirely based in reality.

When someone suffers from an addiction, a mood disorder, an anxiety disorder, or is having difficulty with their interpersonal relationships, there might be a history of trauma, which arrested emotional development. It is important for me to assess whether that is the case and if it is then I incorporate trauma work, including family of origin/inner child work, and/or EMDR in order to process and resolve issues that lie beneath the surface and are getting in the way of the client leading a functional productive life.