Sense-making Approach
My work as a psychotherapist is to approach and meet everyone as openly and creatively as possible. Human beings are sense-making – we are shaped by the meaning we make in our lives. No matter our role or identity within culture and society – at the fundamental level we seek to make sense of the world and lives around us. Oftentimes, the ways in which we make sense of the people, structures and lives around us can become old, worn-out, tired and no longer serve the original purpose they intended. These defense mechanisms, creative adjustments and compensations do serve a purpose for a time – but they also hold us back from the feeling of living fulfilling lives. You can only walk around with a limp for so long. When we feel unhappy we literally sense ourselves as lacking energy, vitality, spirit. This is why our bodies can feel so exhausted when we are depressed.
The psychotherapeutic process can be seen as a way of navigating or coming to many compromises with one’s aim in life and their creative adjustments. We can’t just be who we were – we have to continually become who we are. This is the process of living through making sense of the life around us. Life is precarious. We adapt at times imperfectly to these precarious circumstances. You often hear the old adage that you can’t choose the card you’re dealt but you can choose what to do with the cards you were dealt with.
Psychotherapy is one of the many methods in which one can attempt to orient themselves in their life-world. My work is to encourage an opening of creative use of self. What I mean by this isn’t merely artistic pursuit. But an artistic approach to life is often advantageous because it reengages our senses with the world. It is as challenging as ever before to make sense of the sociopolitical world. Who am I in this world? Who do I want to be? How do I do it? My psychotherapeutic approach is to create a space for you to creatively engage in your world, help you make sense of it and offer you ways of dealing with problematic symptoms that may have brought you to seek therapy in the first place. There are many ways to engage self-exploration – creating a podcast, changing careers, spiritually, artistically, traveling, woodworking, psychedelics etc. But the work we do together won’t focus on those pursuits in themselves, they will focus on exploring what would support the pursuit of those. Especially if one is feeling stuck.
Areas of Practice
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy & Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve mental health. CBT focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems
Gestalt Therapy
Here & Now… in the here and now… being in the present… being. These are common catch-phrases of today. But what do they mean and what do they have to do with psychotherapy?
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Whether we meditate, practice karate or engage in Gestalt Psychotherapy, we can attain being in the moment - not thinking about the past and not worrying or planning for the future, we can simply be present in the here and now. While this can be an intense transformative experience, it is also the moment to build our awareness of ourselves, our patterns of behaviour and our potential for change.
Beginning psychotherapy might be prompted by life challenges such as relationship difficulties, a death or loss of a job. Others come because they experience a feeling of unease and discomfort in their daily life or are interested in exploring higher levels of engagement and satisfaction. Here & Now can help all of these different circumstances because it is in the here and now that change is truly possible.
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Working in the here and now, I can help you by creating a supportive yet challenging environment where there are opportunities to build awareness. In part, I do this by maintaining a non-judgmental, open, and receptive attitude and by being an attentive and insightful witness. This is a co-creative process that will release your energy, bring renewed clarity of mind and the freedom to make new choices. In short, you will begin to feel more alive - you will begin to create the life you want.
In addition to my Gestalt training, I incorporate insights and approaches from psychoanalysis, psychodrama, art and music. I work with individuals, couples, and groups. For those who live further afield, I am available for phone consultations. I am currently experimenting with SKYPE, a free video live chatting tool which will enable me to work with you in the comfort of your own home.
Emotionally Focused Couples & Family Therapy
EFCT aims at uncovering patterns of behaviour between two people.