I have been doing this kind of work for many years, and find that people generally experience me as non-judgmental, empathic, and optimistic.

The tasks, challenges, and joys of adulthood are exceedingly complex. Every person entering psychotherapy presents with a unique history and a different set of problems and attempted solutions specific to his or her life circumstance.

Where a person comes from and the strengths and weaknesses of that history bear meaningfully on the present. We learn who we are through our interactions with our primary caretakers, siblings, and peers. The ways in which we learn to manage our self-esteem, identify and express our feelings, protect ourselves from threats to our sense of self, construct and carry out meaningful goals, and structure our relationships are based upon our experiences in our family of origin and the extended social context of childhood and adolescence.

This is not to say that history is the only important concern: the present, where we live out our lives, is essential. For it is in the present that we experience life. Hence, how we live day-to-day determines, in the end, what we make of our lives, whether it is a life worth living or not.

Accordingly, I work with individuals to strengthen their sense of self, communicate more effectively and solve their own problems in the present. This approach does not dictate that I am either active or passive as a therapist. Rather, I try to be responsive to what is happening: sometimes that means being silent, other times I may be quite active, making recommendations for the person to consider.

Successful psychotherapy requires commitment on the part of both the psychotherapist and the person seeking therapy. My commitment will be to work in collaboration with you toward meaningful goals that fit with your needs and resources.