Psychodynamic Therapy

I have had training in psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychotherapy and years of supervision with psychoanalytic practitioners. Most of my work is through this lens, to comprehensively get a picture of you, so I know what approaches to take in your treatment.

I am interested in the formation of our ego structure, the organization of our personality and how we view the world. I am tuned into the presence of defense mechanism, how they protect us and why they were formed. I care about how our past experience shape who we are as people. I am tuned into the transference and counter transference in the therapy room. This means, what is happening between therapist and client and making meaning of behaviors and feelings.

In my practice, I utilize a psychodynamic approach to help clients uncover and understand deep-seated emotions and unconscious patterns that influence their behavior. By exploring past experiences and their impact on the present, I assist clients in gaining insight into their inner lives, fostering self-awareness and personal growth. This approach aims to resolve internal conflicts, enhance emotional resilience, and promote lasting psychological well-being.

I consider psychodynamic theory to be the theoretical foundation of my Practice. Broadly, psychodynamic therapy is concerned with exploring one’s patterns over time, especially in relationships. The aim is to understand the nature of one's relationships, how said relationships have shaped oneself over time, and how they impact us in the here-and-now. Success in psychodynamic therapy generally shows up as gained self-understanding, a more fortified sense of self, and improved relationships.

In psychodynamic therapy, I help you explore the underlying causes of your emotional struggles by delving into your unconscious mind. We'll uncover hidden patterns and unresolved conflicts from your past that influence your current behavior and feelings. Through this process, you’ll gain deeper self-awareness and understanding, allowing you to address the root of your issues. This approach fosters emotional growth, helping you develop healthier relationships and improve your overall well-being.

I utilize psychodynamic interventions in session to get to a deeper place of exploration of past relationships and experiences and to identify patterns in thought and behaviors.

Psychodynamic therapy can help people improve their quality of life by helping them gain a better understanding of the way they think and feel. The idea is that this will improve their ability to make choices, relate to others, and forge the kind of life they would like to live.

Goals in psychodynamic therapy include acknowledgment of emotions, identifying patterns, improving interpersonal relationships, and recognizing/addressing avoidance. My goal in using this modality is for people to be able to gain insight into their current daily lives through self-reflection of their past.

I use psychodynamic therapy, combined with my experience as a certified Jungian coach, to explore behavioral patterns that often operate beneath the surface of awareness. By diving into the unconscious, I help clients uncover how past experiences and attachment patterns shape their current relationship with the self and the world. This deeper understanding fosters greater self-awareness, empowering clients to break free from limiting patterns and create more fulfilling lives.

Some parts of ourselves are hidden from our own awareness and become apparent only in the ways we relate to others: the impact we have on them, how we engage them, what seems to come up again and again. Because of this, I use the relationship we build as a window into your world–and as an agent of change in your life. With greater awareness of the underlying habits, patterns, and motivations that direct our lives, the greater your agency, choice, and freedom.

I have been trained eclectically, but also have an extensive background in psychoanalytical and psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy, especially those that engage the relational dimensions of the process as a focus. Some of my training in this area includes: (1) Participation in a year-long practicum drawing on self-psychology at the Pierce Street Counseling Center, (2) Participation in a two year-long Intensive Study Groups offered by the Northern California Society of Psychoanalytic Psychology, (3) Weekly relationally-oriented group consultation with analyst, Cindy Sachs since 2014, (4) Bi-weekly participation for 10 years in a psychoanalytically-oriented consultation group facilitated by Dr. Robert Carrere, a training analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, drawing from the principles and theories of Modern Psychoanalysis and (5) Completion of a two-year program in supervision at The Psychotherapy Institute.

Psychodynamic therapy explores the patterns and cycles that have repeated in your life, including patterns of thoughts and feelings. Together, we work to understand these cycles that you may feel trapped by. With that understanding, a path to peace and freedom opens up through self-reflection and self-compassion.

I have a Ph.D in Clinical Social Work and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

Who are you? Where did you come from? While cognitive and behavioral therapies focus more on where you are now and where you want to go, Psychodynamic therapy digs into our pasts to discover how our early experiences have shaped us and drive us to re-create familiar patterns in our relationships, sometimes healthy and sometimes not.

Psychodynamic styles all rely on the fact that much of our lives occurs outside of our awareness. Old-school psychoanalysts focus on "the unconscious"; neuroscientists estimate that we are unaware of as much as 95 % of our cognitive activity, including decisions and emotions. The psychodynamic style I use relies on the power of creative dialogue and narrative to bring your experience into fully embodied awareness. The more aware you are, the more choices you see. I am a licensed psychoanalyst.

Problems originate in relationship and problems are healed in relationship