ABOUT THERAPY
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
– Simone Weill
The Process
Therapy is about attention, awareness, and action.
Our work together begins with attention.
I’ll help you slow down and pay attention to yourself without judgment, from yourself or from me. We’ll talk about the concerns that bring you to therapy. And we’ll examine everything that might be affecting those issues: your daily routine, your physical health, your lifestyle.
Attention builds awareness.
As we work together, you’ll build your awareness of exactly where you are in the present.
Every day, you have countless mental, emotional and physical reactions to your experience. These reactions provide a goldmine of information about your fears, hurts, hopes, strengths, and dreams. Also, they reveal messages you’ve absorbed and inferred over the years, and how they come up in and shape your present patterns – the choices you make each day.
Awareness gives you the power to act. Awareness gives you choice.
You are not a machine. A person or situation may indeed press one of your buttons. But as you become aware of your buttons, you get the power to choose informed action over reflexive reaction. The power to choose change.
Your Process
Above all, therapy is about you: Your needs, your goals, your values. You are in control of your therapeutic experience. The focus, the pace, the depth of your exploration – are all up to you. I will be collaborating with you every step of the way to make sure that therapy continues to reflect your priorities and goals, and to make sure that our time together is fruitful.
ABOUT ME
How did I get here?
Since I was a child, I’ve loved stories. I loved thinking about why people do what they do and about the words they used to tell their tales.
At first, this love drew me to writing. But even while working as a writer, I was learning about psychology. Besides reading on the topic. I experienced the transformative power of therapy first-hand as a client.
Therapy helped me deal with pain and change my life. Through this process, I became passionate about what is possible through therapy and about becoming a therapist.
My studies in the classroom and in the School of Hard Knocks
I graduated with an MA in Mental Health Counseling from Brooklyn College and a BA in English from Cornell University. I have a tremendous drive to study and learn, and to continue to develop my skills. Recent trainings include Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy and Transformational Chair Work.
Though these formal studies are crucial, they are just part of my story. In a sense, my whole life has prepared me for and continues to shape my approach to therapy:
- Being a client taught me about what a good therapist can do and about the transformative possibilities of therapy.
- My work as a therapist draws on my background as a writer. We may think of life as a string of events, but it is much more. The stories we tell ourselves about these experiences shape our moods and actions. Therapy is a chance to reframe your past – not the actual events, but how you interpret and feel them. Doing so enables you to take control of your own personal narrative – your life story and where it goes from here.
- Other steps in my own process of self-development, such as the practice of meditation and mindfulness, continue to inform my work as a therapist and to give me tools to use with you. As I continue to live and learn, I continue to bring more to my clients, with whom I am grateful to work.
