COMPASSIONATE: We keep in mind the person who is hiding behind the wall of defense and unhealthy habits and that frequently causes suffering. We strive to join forces with that part of you that is trying to move forward in life, and most importantly, we will help you see that side of you that sometimes can be quite elusive.
In our work together we will focus on uncovering what is at the bottom of your current problem.
We believe that for you to be able to see results in a timely manner, therapy needs to be INTENTIONAL AND EXPERIENTIAL. This sets therapy with us apart from other forms of help that you might have tried in the past.
INTENTIONAL: Most of us, would really prefer to be talking about the weather or the last book we read, rather than facing the pain that we are feeling. We will work together to help you do the work you came here to do.
EXPERIENTIAL: Our attention in therapy will be in the HERE and NOW. We will honor your history as it organically emerges in the therapy, but it will not be neither the goal nor the pathway. By staying in the here and now, we have the chance to see exactly what is causing or contributing to your problem, thus giving us the chance to intervene right away to change course. In therapy, we will focus on your relational and emotional experience as it happens in the moment.
The acceptance into any of the following programs is a decision that you and your therapist will make together after a careful two-hour clinical consultation in which your therapy goals will be clarified, your level of commitment and readiness for change will be assessed in order for you to be ready to do the hard but worthwhile work that therapy entails.
This initial consultation can be considered a “trial-therapy” where you will have the opportunity to experience “therapy work” from the get-go so that you can make an informed decision about whether you and your therapist can work as a team to help you achieve your goals.
This is a unique application of the Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy principles and technique that I provide to clients who are new to therapy, have jobs that take them away from the DC area frequently and for long periods of time, or have work and family schedules that do not allow for regular therapy. Therapy blocks can be up to 3-6 hours and can occur on an irregular basis if this is clinically appropriate and in line with your goals and needs.
The goal of these therapy programs is to help you move in the direction of your life goals. These time limited therapy programs are ideal for clients who are highly motivated for change, and have specific problems (single focus) that they need help with.
These are examples of difficulties that are a good fit for this kind of therapy:
John came for help to make a decision about whether he should cut off ties with his brother. For most of his life, he was constantly devalued and dismissed by his youngest brother. John was deeply hurt, and angry towards this brother, whom he loved but also naturally resented. The therapy focused on: 1. helping John to see his brother realistically so that he would not be constantly disappointed, hurt and angry. 2. We also worked on helping John to begin seeing and accepting his mixed feelings towards his brother, so that he did not have to struggle with the roller coaster of emotions that tend to occur when we related to others in a white or black manner. As a result of our six-session therapy, John felt that he had clarity about the boundaries that he needed to set in order to establish a healthier relationship with his brother.
Jane sought therapy for feelings of sadness, lack of motivation, and anxiety as a result of work-related difficulties. She was feeling that despite doing great work, she was being passed constantly for promotion while others were advancing in their careers. She had been working hard to please everybody at work, by offering to do as much as she could to complete projects, even if they did not fall under her responsibility. In our work together, we identify themes related to her perception of herself as a “bottomless container” that for sure had allowed her to be a much needed and appreciated member of her organization (and her family of origin). She also learned to see that her taking on many projects inside and outside of work, allowed her to be distracted from painful feeling that she had regarding her love life. She had not completely grieved the loss of a relationship that had ended several years in the past and had made an unconscious commitment to not allow herself the possibility of a new relationship for fears of being hurt again. Her perfectionism was the way in which she found any potential love interest “not good enough,” thus closing doors to any possibility to get to know someone new. At the end of our time together, Jane had begun to set firm boundaries at her work and found it easier to tolerate the anxiety that saying “no” trigged inside of her. She also began to clear up her schedule in order to make more space to be on her own and to think about the idea of moving on from her last relationship.
Sessions for the intenSional Time Limited programs are 90-minutes long and take place on consecutive weeks (as much as possible).
Short-Term therapy with me entails an open-ended commitment. However, the duration of the therapy is likely to be shorter, than conventional talk therapies, insight-oriented therapies, and psychoanalysis.
This therapy follows the more conventional format of taking place in a 50-minute, weekly format. The pace of this therapy treatment allows for a consistent pace of intenSional work, and time to either work on your goals between the sessions, or time to process between one session and the other. This ideal pace, allows the therapy to support your progress, and to actively work on the consolidation of the changes achieve in therapy so that the benefits are experienced well beyond the termination of the therapy.