How do I get the most out of therapy?

To get the most out of therapy it’s crucial to have a therapist that you trust.
You’ve got to have a sense that they’re going to be able to handle whatever challenges you bring to your sessions.

A therapist is a guide who points out the way for you. You have to walk your own path, but they can shine a light on the path and point out where there may be pitfalls and cul-de-sacs.

It is very useful to have a sense of what you’d like to do in any given session. The therapist should be tracking your global progress, but if you let them know specific things you want to address on a given day, it can focus the work and gives you more ownership of it.

Keeping a journal of the highlights of your sessions can be very helpful. Use it throughout the week to add insights that come up, dreams that seem significant, and even drawings of images that may come to you. All of this supports you in being more aware of what’s happening in the unconscious and integrating the work you’re doing in therapy.

What does one do in therapy with you?

After getting a brief overview of your life situation and what you want to work on, we start looking at the places where you get stuck. Usually these stuck places are echoes of woundings or trauma received when you were younger. When untreated, trauma usually turns into limiting beliefs about who you are and what you get to have in life-how much health and joy you get to experience. I support you in looking at things in your life that you don’t like – the things that you normally work real hard not to look at. Once you learn to look at those qualities or habits with a bit of grace and even humor (I mean, how bad can you really be after all?!) things start to shift. The energy that had been required to keep those things out of your awareness can now be used for other things! You start making more enlightened choices and doing things that make you happier. You come to be the person that you always knew you were deep down. This process can take a while, but it results in fundamental changes in how you experience yourself and the life you’re living.

Do you do phone sessions?

Yes I do. It you are out of the area or if you live in Portland but it is difficult for you to get to my office, we can arrange to set up sessions by phone or by Skype.