Services
Individual Therapy
Often, we’re not aware of how much we hide. We present only a part of ourselves at work, part at home with our families, part with our friends. It’s not uncommon for us to forget who we are, and to become anxious and depressed as a result of how we respond to the implicit demands of others, both real and imagined, and which we often take for granted, to present ourselves in particular ways.
The therapist’s office is unlike any other place because it eschews presentment. Here, we talk about thoughts, dreams, fantasies, the parts we hide from others, the parts we hide from ourselves. Here, we put into language what we keep hidden.
Psychoanalysis
Say what you will about Sigmund Freud, and he is often disparaged as much as he is celebrated, but his ideas radically changed the way we think about being human, sexuality, our dreams, and the practice of psychotherapy. Since his time, psychoanalysis has been shown to be an effective treatment promoting lasting change. It does so by challenging the ways we think about ourselves and our relationships to others and the world around us. It demands honesty, and is not an easy therapy. But, as they say, neither is anything worth doing.
Couples Therapy
Freud tells us, “the unconscious of one human being can react on that of another without passing into consciousness.” As a trained analyst, I pay particular attention in couples therapy to how unconscious dynamics inform the relationship. For example, often people have pre-determined, unconscious ways of viewing others, and—also unconsciously—conform to these perceptions. If the other is unconsciously expected, the one may act in ways to subjugate oneself to this expectation. All may seem fine until you realize you’re in a rut, prisoner to these expectations and unable any longer to find joy in your relationship.
Couples therapy can help partners identify and take ownership of the ways they unconsciously contribute to the relationship dynamic, and make changes in themselves for the good of the partnership.
Adolescents and Teenagers
Adolescence is a crucial time of life. Bodies change, sexuality blooms, and authority shifts from the parents to the social group. Gauging how to respond to the implicit external demand—and inner desire—to conform to this authority while at the same time seeking self-definition is intense and confusing. Questions of what it means to be man or woman or gender-queer weigh heavily during the time of adolescence. Above all, however, adolescents must grapple with the disconcerting fact that the world as it was presented to them by their parents, and as they believed during childhood, is quite different and, often, more sinister.
They must find themselves, and find the desire to carry on and mark their place in society. Therapy offers a private space for them to do so, a place that is neither parental nor social, a place where they can be themselves, speak freely, and develop their own truth.
Alongside the changes their adolescents are going through, parents can sometimes feel like they’re losing the child they thought they knew. They have to contend with these personal losses while supporting an almost radically new person over whom they must retain some authority. It’s almost never easy, and while many hit their stride eventually, talking about this transition with a trained professional can help.
Consultation and Supervision
Including my own time in training, I’ve been practicing psychotherapy since 2006. I’ve had the pleasure and benefit of working with several excellent clinicians, and have long-standing work relationships with a few of them. If you’re a student interested in learning more about psychoanalysis, or if you’re otherwise interested in developing as a clinician in the Freudian or Lacanian tradition, I’d be happy to speak with you.
Book a Consultation
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