Introduction

We begin our relationship with a thorough psychiatric evaluation, which involves talking deeply about what led you to the often difficult decision to seek mental health care. We will talk about your current and past symptoms, your family of origin, developmental, medical, social and relationship history with a focus on how these affect your current life and life choices.

Diagnosis

We will then talk about diagnosis and treatment options, including a discussion of whether psychotherapy might be beneficial, and the many psychotherapeutic modalities available.

Treatment

We may decide to pursue psychotherapy alone, or a trial of medication. We may decide that a combined approach of medication and psychotherapy might be most effective. You may choose to engage in psychotherapy with me or with another therapist. I will be happy to work closely with your therapist to ensure your care is thoughtfully integrated.

The psychotherapy I practice is the synthesis of multiple influences: most central are psychodynamic (psychoanalytic), supportive and mindfulness techniques. Each person coming for therapy is unique, and my treatment approach is created with this as our central pillar. As therapy progresses, often there is a growing resilience and ability to tolerate strong emotion and stress. The therapy techniques we pursue will reflect this.

Communication

If we choose to start a medication, my philosophy is generally to start low and go slow. I will encourage frequent communication in the beginning (which may involve only 5 minutes on the phone or email, or more frequent sessions) until the medication is at a stable and effective state. At that point, we will determine together the optimal frequency of our meetings. If we find that medication is useful on a maintenance basis, I try to use the lowest effective dosage for you.

My treatment recommendations, whether medication, psychotherapy, or both are a result of our mutual exploration of your history and a thorough and evolving psychiatric assessment which occurs throughout our relationship.

About Insurance

While I do not take insurance, I am happy to provide you with an itemized receipt to submit to your insurer for reimbursement.

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

–Joseph Campbell