Therapeutic Alliance

 

I am not here to tell you what to do. Good therapy requires a mutuality between client and therapist. You are the expert on you your experiences and your emotional life. When you bring what you know and I bring what I know there is great potential for change. I believe in transparency, intention and collaboration in the course of treatment.

 

To understand a person it is important to consider them physically, emotionally and spiritually. People do not exist in isolation. They have families, communities,  jobs, friends, advocations and a world of experiences. It is important to consider all of these factors when a person comes into my office. A Person is more than a diagnosis.

 

A person is many things. I am less concerned with finding a label for you and more interested in how to help you function better within a more rewarding life. In the service to of this goal we may well consider the spectrum of difficulties that can affect life functioning, such as depression, trauma, anger, relationship issues, addiction, mood swings and anxiety. People are almost never exactly as described in a diagnosis. They are a mixture of many assets and dimensions some rewarding  and some less so. It is more important to help you have the life that you want.

 

What does co-occurring mean

 

As mental health services and addiction services have matured in the past six decades there is increasing recognition of the way these two factors interact. Part of my orientation is to consider how the issues of addiction/compulsion may be interacting with the more traditional mental health issues associated with therapy.

 

For example a depressed person may take a number of tactics to try to cope with their depression. However alcohol, drugs, food, tobacco, gambling, sexual acting out or other behaviors ultimately fail. The consequences of these choices can become a new problem worse than the original one. Historically these problems were treated separately which created many problems for the people who needed help with both issues. If there is a problem of compulsion then we need to treat that and then original problem. This approach has helped many people.

 

Clinical orientations

 

In the course of my life, education and practice I have found many orientations to mental health useful. This is sometimes referred to as being an eclectic therapist. These are some of the orientations I find helpful. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Attachment Theory, Family
Systems, Gestalt Therapy, EMDR, Inner Child Work.