Before we go any further, you may be asking yourself, “What’s involved with therapy, and can it REALLY benefit me?”
Therapy is difficult work. Your sincere participation and commitment can result in a number of rewarding benefits, including the resolution of the concerns that led you to therapy in the first place, improved interpersonal relationships, and greater self-confidence, to name just a few. Psychotherapy requires your active involvement, honesty, and openness in order to change your thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors. During our sessions, I will ask for your feedback and views on your treatment, its progress, and other aspects of the therapy, and I expect you to respond openly and candidly. This open, host communication is a critical component of the therapy process, and it is crucial to achieving your goals. And please remember: everything we discuss is, and always will remain, confidential.
Keep in mind that the therapy process is not “one size fits all;” in other words, the same clinical approach or technique may work for some patients, but not others. As a result, there may be some occasions when I employ several therapeutic methodologies to help a patient deal with a certain issue. These approaches include, but are not limited to, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, cognitive, psychodynamic, existential, system/family, developmental (adult, child, family), humanistic or psycho-educational therapies. During the course of therapy, I will likely be drawing on these various psychological approaches depending on the problem I’m treating, and my professional assessment of what technique, or some combination, will best benefit you.
During the evaluation process or therapy itself, remembering or talking about unpleasant events, feelings, or thoughts can result in considerable discomfort; strong feelings of anger, sadness, worry, or fear; or experiencing anxiety, depression, or insomnia, etc. I may challenge some of your assumptions or perceptions, or propose different ways of looking at, thinking about, or handling situations — which can cause you to feel upset, angry, depressed, defensive, frustrated, or disappointed. Attempting to resolve issues that brought you to therapy in the first place, such as relationship problem, may result in unintended changes that affect other areas of your life. For example, a decision that is positive for one family member is viewed quite negatively by another family member. Please know some changes are relatively easy and swift, while others occur more slowly and with some difficulty. Either way, I will work directly with you, for as long as it takes, to put you on the path to recovery.
One final note: I do not provide patients with legal advice, child custody evaluations, or medication or prescription recommendations, as these activities fall outside the scope of my practice.