Psychotherapy

Shopping for a therapist is like shopping for shoes. Before you find a comfortable fit, you might have to try on a few. As you read the description of my psychotherapy services, let yourself imagine the fit of my approach to your concerns.

I do individual counseling with adults for habits, anxieties and other mood problems, like depression. Other concerns that bring clients to my couch include career, creativity, relationships, childbirth and chronic pain.

Habits I commonly treat include smoking, overeating, nail biting and hair pulling. My weight-management clients range from underweight to obese; some are compulsive overeaters. I do not treat anorexia or bulimia

Among anxiety disorders, I treat panic disorder, phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and performance anxiety in sports, business and other arenas.

I particularly enjoy helping clients with creativity issues, such as writer’s block, and concentration difficulties. As a writer myself, I have an insider’s view on my creative client’s issues.

I don’t treat clients with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness. Nor do I treat people currently experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and those at serious risk of harming themselves or others.  I don’t specialize in substance abuse, but I have helped people with problem drinking and drug use.

Therapy for every client, even those specifically requesting hypnosis, begins with a psychological assessment and individualized treatment plan for our work together. The assessment is essential in understanding the issues at hand, and takes at least two 50-minute sessions to complete.   

Therapy is guided by proven treatment protocols for the issues at hand. I have trained in several therapeutic approaches and often mix and match techniques, from relaxation and meditation to cognitive-behavioral therapy (which revamps counter-productive thoughts and behaviors) and psychodynamic psychotherapy (a more traditional approach focusing on family patterns.)

If you follow the treatment plan, and do your homework (yes, there will be homework!), you will soon feel calmer, more confident, and you will experience a greater sense of well being. I believe you already have everything you need to live a healthy, fulfilling life. I see my work as helping you rediscover your innate abilities, your optimism, self-confidence and sense of humor.

How many sessions will you need? Honestly, it depends… on your goals, the treatment protocol, your motivation, as well as confounding factors, like substance abuse. I see most clients short-term (under 10 sessions), but some long-term. Generally, clients stay as long as they find therapy helpful.

There is no guarantee that you will reach all your goals, but your motivation is the best predictor of success. I do not accept clients who, in my opinion, I cannot help.

I usually have a limited number of openings in my Concord, Mass., private practice. I teach at Harvard Medical School, but I do not see clients in Cambridge.

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