What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is an opportunity to develop a new compassionate understanding of yourself and your relationship to others. Whether you are looking for symptom relief or personal growth, the work of psychotherapy begins with establishing a trusting relationship with the therapist who will be your guide, ally, and occasionally your nemesis in exploration. I encourage my clients to become relentlessly curious about themselves by carefully looking at their past and present relationships and the patterns of their emotional and psychological lives.

One of the greatest challenges in life is to perceive yourself with accuracy - to see yourself in action. Developmental experiences, trauma, and shame distort self-perception and contribute to depression, anxiety, relational problems, and many of the other symptoms/problems that can be addressed through psychotherapy. I believe that recognizing and learning to live with the complexities of your unique self can be one of the great rewards of the therapeutic process .

Because psychotherapy is essentially a relational experience, you can anticipate that the personal conflicts and interpersonal dynamics that have become troublesome in life will come to be mirrored in the therapeutic relationship where they can be jointly considered and safely explored. Psychotherapy is like a stage where you are always playing the role of yourself and you and the therapist are the audience. Bearing witness to yourself in action and discovering a new relational experience are the basis of psychotherapy and the beginning of healing.