Individual therapy is the main foundation of my work. It’s a dedicated hour reserved only for you. Together, we’ll help you discover the things happening outside your awareness. We’ll explore not only your immediate problems, but the patterns shaping your experience underneath.
As patterns come closer into view, several things begin to happen: new growth begins to occur, new choices begin to emerge, and freedom from the kind of pain you’ve been suffering becomes a new possibility. It’s the kind of work that requires a companion – I’ll be alongside you every step of the way.
The things we go to therapy desperately wanting to change — our anxiety, our depression, our relationship difficulties — these aren’t the full story of what’s going on. They’re less often “the problem” but signs pointing to something else — an invitation to better understand what’s going on underneath. Our symptoms tell the story of how we’ve learned to live, love, and protect ourselves. And it’s knowing more of this story that allows us to finally begin addressing problems at their core.
This kind of work is called psychodynamic therapy. And psychodynamic therapy is different from the rest. It’s centered on getting to the root of the problem. While countless approaches to therapy focus on helping you feel better, psychoanalysis asks a different question: why are you suffering in the first place? It’s about going deeper and gaining insight into what’s most outside your awareness. It’s about facing your fears, letting go of your defenses, and coming to terms with what you’ve been avoiding for so long. Psychodynamic therapy gets to the bottom while other approaches focus only on what’s on top.
The rules are simple: say whatever comes to mind, and try your best not to filter or guard yourself. Nothing is irrelevant, no subject is off-limits, and no topic is off-track. Follow the rabbit trails, comment on the decor, and sometimes you may even feel you’ve got nothing left to say. That’s okay. What’s most important will emerge on its own. And together, we’ll help you make sense of it.
The therapeutic relationship is an essential part of this kind of work. Rather than offering advice or preformed solutions, psychodynamic therapy creates a space where your inner world unfolds in real time. Problems occurring due to things outside your awareness are problems that can’t be reached on your own. Whatever patterns happen in your life outside therapy inevitably show up in the room. And together, we’ll help you understand them. In the safety of a trusting relationship, whatever things are more difficult to see on your own gradually come more into focus. You begin to change not because someone tells you who you are or simply sees what’s going on, but because — together — you let yourself lean in more closely to discover what’s been there all along.
I often work with individuals with the following types of concerns:
The goal is not only symptom relief, though that often comes. It’s a deeper kind of change: greater freedom, richer relationships, and a stronger sense of authenticity. Change, ultimately, means living life more freely and loving all of who you are. Therapy isn’t about becoming someone different. It’s about becoming more fully yourself.