Psychotherapy services offered

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Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an evidenced based treatment that has shown to be effective for a range of symptoms and diagnoses in children, adolescents and adults. CBT is time limited, solution focused, and collaborative. CBT is goal-focused, so I will work with the patient to identify their specific goals in coming to treatment. Treatment will be tailored to meet each individuals’ specific needs. In CBT, patients are first taught to understand the link between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Together, we will identify unhelpful thinking patterns and problematic behaviors that can lead to undesired or strong emotions such as depression, anxiety, and anger. Patients are then taught a range of coping strategies targeted at restructuring thoughts, developing new patterns of behavior that are more effective, and how to cope with unwanted emotions. With younger children, parents are often taught the skills along with the child, so that they may coach their child in skills between sessions. Patients are given a range of strategies to practice in between sessions to help generalize skills into daily life. Research supports the effectiveness of CBT alone, or in conjunction with medication.

Many cancer patients experience emotional dysregulation at various times in their journey from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. I have specific psycho-oncology training and apply CBT to my work with cancer patients and their families. 

Mindfulness strategies have been shown to be an effective component in CBT for depression and anxiety, among many other difficulties. Mindfulness can be particularly useful for stress reduction. Mindfulness helps patients increase awareness of thoughts and feelings in the present moment, without trying to change it. These strategies are incorporated into therapy as appropriate.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidenced based treatment designed to help people with significant difficulty managing their emotions. It is a comprehensive treatment that includes both individual therapy and skills training. For adolescents, the skills are taught to the adolescent and the parents. DBT is a type of cognitive behavior therapy that is both compassionate and focused on problem-solving. Skills are aimed at helping people improve in the following the areas: mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal relationships (including family relationships), and distress tolerance. DBT has a large body of research supporting its effectiveness with both adults and adolescents. I conduct both individual therapy sessions and skills training sessions for adolescents or adults in need of more intense treatment, however I do not offer a comprehensive DBT program.

Parents often report struggling with how to effectively parent their child. I work with parents to provide support and teach skills so that parents feel more empowered. Parenting work can be done as an adjunct when the child is in individual CBT, or I can work with the parents alone. Parents are taught to increase awareness of their child’s emotions and behavior, improve communication with their child, and to learn ways to positively reinforce their child to increase desired behaviors and decrease unwanted behaviors. Parents learn a range of coping strategies to increase mindfulness and the ability to be present with their child, to effectively problem solve while also validating the child, to deal with their own emotions in response to their child’s behavior, and to improve their overall relationship with their child. Parent skills training has been shown to be an important aspect of CBT for children and adolescents who have behavioral difficulties (including ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder). 

Parenting work is not limited to parents of small children. I provide parenting skills  and support for parents of adolescent and even adult children, especially when they are experiencing difficult life transitions (e.g., college, divorce, death, etc.).

• Depression
• Bipolar Disorder
• Postpartum Anxiety and Depression
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Social Anxiety
• Specific Phobias
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Separation Anxiety
• Test/performance anxiety
• Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• School anxiety and refusal
• Relationship or interpersonal stress
• Emotion regulation difficulties
• Stress management
• Life transitions
• Maladaptive behaviors
• Self-esteem issues
• Psycho-oncology