Specializing in Anxiety Treatment, Depression and Couples Therapy
Anxiety
Anxiety can present itself in many forms such as obsessions, compulsions, body problems, generalized fear, and/ or specific phobias. Therapy focused on alleviating anxiety can be highly relieving and life changing. I work with anxiety disorders by relying on a psycodynamic/ psycoanalytic frame. I often supplement with more modern coping mechanisms such as CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).
Depression
Depression can present as vague symptom of lethargy, fatigue, anger, or loss of vitality. I find it incredibly rewarding for people to explore the earliest suggestions of depression in their lives. Working together we can investigate what depression might be trying to tell us.
Growth & Wellbeing
Not all inquiries into therapy are clinical in nature. Often, people need a partnering therapist to explore life’s meaning and connect more deeply to personal values. Life transitions, loss of loved ones, and phase of life issues are also common ground for exploration.
Building Resiliency
Resiliency is a term that is gaining momentum in the mental health world. I first heard it discussed during my time at the VA in Hampton, Virginia; the discussion hinged upon how to increase our psychological capacity to absorb trauma. I like to think about resiliency as the amount of emotional space one has to hold all the difficult things life will bring. Grief, trauma, depression, anxiety, marital problems, and addiction are a few of the tough ones. Marriage, a great new job, an unexpected windfall, or the blessing of children are often positively stressing. Resiliency talks about the conditions inside our emotional selves that will host or act as home to these ups and downs.
Couples Therapy
I specialize in couples therapy and have enjoyed holding safe space for couples for over ten years. Based largely on the influence of John and Julie Gottman, we will safely explore the critical dilemmas in your marriage and/or relationship. I also welcome couples seeking pre-marital counseling to deeply establish strengths in the young relationship as well as bring blind spots into focus.
Be Kind to Yourself
Blog Post
If my therapy office had a book of the month it would be Kristen Neff’s Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. I have copied chapters five six and seven many times in the last month. The crux of the book, and the subject of this recent article by Kristen, is teaching fellow human beings to program kindness to the one person you will spend the most time with: yourself. It follows a therapeutic tool I have used for many years, which says imagine you are interviewing you. Imagine you are sitting with yourself. How would you treat yourself? What type of tone would you adopt as you questioned or quizzed or even tried to correct? Self-compassion goes beyond just trying to reframe our pain or trying to beat our depression. It addresses the idea that, as Kristen points out, sometimes life does really hurt; people in our deepest lives and intimate circles die, get sick, fall away, or get angry with us. We suffer transitions, job losses, missing goals, and relationship issues. We get so driven to succeed, as Elizabeth Gilbert says, “We begin to treat ourselves like an old rented mule.” Self-compassion and self-kindness during these times allows us to first notice what is there and take the opportunity to call this suffering a part of life and be kind to yourself and the pain while we are in it. I often will develop a mantra with clients which represents a phrase that represents kindness to them. Usually they are very similar across clients who have never met. “I count” “I am human” “I am not a space alien” or “I am allowed to have this pain.”
During my PHD quest at Wichita State University, I had an amazing experience working under and taking classes from Dr. Rob Zettle, a pioneer in the Acceptance and Commitment world. I’ll never forget the day he introduced our class to the idea that “You do not have to let your anxiety, depression, or anger make all of your decisions.” Acceptance and Commitment therapy showed me the way to hold all of that programming and “content” as Dr. Zettle would say. Self-compassion is such a nice addition to the space which we hold. Joseph Goldstein would say “Always the notice the tone of your noticing.”
I am going to start printing this article for my clients and recommending the book; it might save on paper rather than printing out the chapters. Kristen Neff gives an outstanding list in this one about things to help foster your sense of self compassion and how to free yourself from tools that don’t work, such as self-criticism instead of self-compassion.
Executive Coaching
Ask yourself whether you have a vision for your professional development, whether it is your individual career or your company. Without a long range plan and emotional intelligence, success is impossible.
Coaching at EPR is centered by stressing confidential professionalism in all matters regarding our clients. We are a very small firm which privately caters to the needs of professionals.
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We offer a unique perspective that considers the personal values of the individual. This often includes clarifying life goals, meeting financial expectations, achieving marriage and employment synthesis, and establishing paths to meet expectations. There is a complex interplay between professional knowledge, emotional intelligence, and conflict management skills. It is necessary to motivate employees and create a healthy, professional atmosphere. Managing a company, professional practice, or family business requires a particular skill set that is not always intuitive. Executive Psychological Resources provides an assessment of professional strengths and vulnerabilities for individuals and companies. That assessment serves as the foundation for strengthening individual skills and improving workplace performance. EPR has the experience and knowledge to help clients significantly improve their professional lives.