Bear Korngold

I specialize in working with couples. My approach in couples therapy is fair, kind and collaborative. Often couples that come to me for help have found themselves locked in a pattern of relating that leads again and again to the problems they are hoping to address in couples therapy. I help couples identify and alter these patterns, often with insight into how they developed in the first place. We might also explore the connection between these patterns and each partner’s experience of early formative relationships.

Many clients come to me with some form of depression. Whether having arisen recently, or as a long-standing pattern in one's life, making certain changes and addressing aspects of one's personal history and perspective can start to relieve depressive symptoms. Though not always indicated or desired, I am comfortable with standard anti-depressant medications and can assist in the decision to start or stop medications with an appropriate referral to a Psychiatrist for medication management. I strongly support alternative therapies for depression as well.

I see many clients suffering from mild to debilitating stress and anxiety. By employing straightforward strategies alongside a deeper investigation into formative relationships and experiences, I am able to help clients reduce the grip of anxiety and live a calmer, more productive, and more satisfying life.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy refers to an approach and theory that assumes that early life experience informs and shapes our current relationships and emotional state. It is loosely related to the theory and practice of psychoanalysis (see below). In psychodynamic therapy, the relationship and interaction with the therapist is seen as a primary mode of effecting positive or developmental change. Therapy tends to involve exploration of both current as well as past experiences, often uncovering aspects of a persons thoughts and emotions that were not fully realized or understood. It is through this new understanding and emotional exploration that negative or stuck states of mind and/or relationships are healed, resolved or developed.

I specialize in working with couples. My approach in couples therapy is fair, kind and collaborative. Often couples that come to me for help have found themselves locked in a pattern of relating that leads again and again to the problems they are hoping to address in couples therapy. I help couples identify and alter these patterns, often with insight into how they developed in the first place. We might also explore the connection between these patterns and each partner’s experience of early formative relationships.

Relational psychotherapy is an offshoot of psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic psychotherapy, both of which have a long and varied history going back to Sigmund Freud. As its basic premise, psychoanalysis assumes that people are often unaware of the factors that contribute to their mental and emotional state, and that uncovering these unconscious processes and assumptions leads to wellness. The way it is practiced today, there is a wide variety of approaches and styles in psychoanalysis (i.e. Freudian, Jungian, Object-Relations, Relational) that can look and feel quite different from the stereotype of the silent analyst saying only “Mmm Hmm” as the patient talks. Psychoanalysis is distinguished from psychoanalytic psychotherapy by both the frequency and setup of therapy. In psychoanalysis the patient usually comes in 2 – 5 times per week and often lays on a couch facing away from the therapist, whereas psychoanalytic psychotherapy incorporates the same theories and methodology of analysis without the same level of involvement. Psychoanalysts are required to undergo an additional educational training that often lasts for many years before being able to be called an analyst and perform analysis, whereas many therapists work from psychoanalytically-informed perspective and are well-trained in a psychoanalytic approach.