Therapeutic Philosophy

In my 20+ years of teaching teenagers, my motto was “I believe that understanding ‘the why’ is an essential part of learning.” I guided my students through collaboration, exploration, and “figuring it out.” This is also at the core of my approach to therapy. My role as your therapist is to help you identify and change the things that are getting in your way. I have an informal, conversational, and what one client described as an “easy and approachable” style. Each person is an individual, so each person’s course of therapy will be different. However, my core philosophy is deeply rooted in a humanistic orientation. I believe in an eclectic approach that employs techniques from person-centered, acceptance and commitment, mindfulness, gestalt, and existential therapy. Mutual respect and cooperative exploration are my guiding principles. I believe that you are the expert on you. My job is to help you get to know yourself by exploring with you who you are, what you think, and how you feel.

All I ask for is an openness to explore. Many people start therapy not knowing what they need to work on or realize along the way that they want to focus on something else entirely. We’ll experiment. Sometimes we’ll fail. Sometimes we’ll redefine failure. Most importantly, we’ll try again.