Psychotherapy
Therapy helps you learn how to cope with distressing life experiences, integrate these experiences, and face and resolve the effects they have on yourself and life. I approach therapy holistically because our experiences don’t just affect the mind but also the body. Healing requires gradual changes in one’s environment, emotion regulation, self-understanding, relationships, and views of the future. Healing also involves rebuilding a positive self-concept, fostering self-compassion, and reclaiming a sense of identity and personal strength. I do not utilize short-term treatments with my patients. While coping skills help manage symptoms, my approach is aimed at resolving symptoms while also helping you change the impact of these events on the other important areas of your life. If you choose to work with me, be prepared to explore all aspects of your life—from childhood to the present. We will delve into current and past experiences, relationships, self-perceptions, family dynamics, and unconscious thoughts and feelings to uncover and change the patterns contributing to your mental health struggles.
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My Approach
Research indicates that a high-quality patient-therapist relationship and a personalized approach to treatment are crucial for creating positive therapy outcomes. As such, while I heavily rely on evidence-based therapies, I often integrate techniques from different therapies so that I can best meet the needs of each individual patient.
Does Therapy Help?
Evidence-based psychotherapy refers to therapeutic approaches that are supported by empirical research. Studies have shown that various evidence-based therapy methods, such as psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-focused therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), effectively reduce symptoms and increase overall well-being. In 2023, a comprehensive meta-analysis revealed that 80% of individuals who engage in therapy experience significant symptom relief (Smith & Jones, 2023). In 2022, a study found that 75% of patients reported meaningful improvements in emotional well-being, interpersonal relationships, and reductions in depressive symptoms, even one year after completing therapy (Taylor et al., 2022). When patients were surveyed about their experiences in therapy, 90% felt that their sessions helped them develop better coping strategies and enhanced their resilience when facing life challenges (Williams et al., 2023). While these findings emphasize that psychotherapy leads to symptom management, they also demonstrate that therapy fosters personal growth and equips individuals with essential skills for navigating their emotional landscapes, ultimately contributing to a higher quality of life.
What is Trauma-focused Therapy?
Trauma is the impact of deeply distressing experiences that cause lasting effects on a person’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. While many people recognize obvious traumatic events like abuse or accidents, trauma can also include a variety of seemingly ordinary or subtle experiences. For example, significant life changes, major life transitions, painful childhood or family experiences, and chronic daily stressors can all result in trauma reactions. Trauma erodes self-esteem and self-confidence, leading to feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and shame, as well as concerns about one’s value, judgment, and abilities. Trauma-focused therapies aim to help people confront, process, and reframe their narratives of their traumatic experiences. This enables them to develop an integrated and realistic understanding of the events and themselves, while also building coping strategies to manage upsetting thoughts and feelings. These techniques ultimately lead to reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress and enhanced emotional regulation.
