Services
Psychotherapy
“Essentially,…the cure is effected by love” – Sigmund Freud
Psychotherapy is a process by which a patient and a psychotherapist work together to build understanding and knowledge about the patient’s internal world and how that internal world is then experienced externally in life. I work as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, operating from theories like object relations, psychodynamic, relational, attachment, intersubjective/interpersonal, and psychoanalytic perspectives. For you, this means that I do not focus on the presentation of problems but rather on what the inner experience and feelings may be. I believe that issues like anxiety, depression, etc. are symptoms, reflections, symbols, etc. that indicate deeper feelings that we hold inside of ourselves. This internal world is where we must look and experience if we are to grow “stronger, better, quicker, smarter, etc.” To put Musashi’s quote more simply, everything of importance is on the inside.
“Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” – Sigmund Freud
When we hold feelings inside, they often remain there until we feel them and work them through. I find myself wondering how a person’s mind (soul, psyche, etc) may experience the world around them, as well as how the world might experience them. Typically this type of therapy reaches into the depths of a person’s experience, feelings, memories, etc., and how their story lives within them every day.
This is not exactly an excavation of the past, but an exploration of how those experiences from the past present themselves in the here and now. This is an oftentimes slow, methodical process of “benevolent curiosity.” Wondering about ourselves leads us to places in which we find our insecurities, anxieties, defenses, and resistances. Our curiosity leads us to ask ourselves why? What is this about? These places can show up as similarities across relationships, the workplace, or even with ourselves.
As part of the process, the patient and I embark on developing emotional (ego) strength to tolerate the experiences together. Building strength allows us to stay with the feeling and make meaning of it. This reduces the intensity, uncertainty, and unknowingness of the feelings by giving form to what we are suffering through.