My background:

 

I have been working as a psychologist in the Northwest for nearly 30 years, and would say that my approach to doing this work has been shaped by three sets of experiences primarily:  my formal academic training, my own personal Mindfulness training, and the many, many hours I've spent meeting with clients and providing clinical services. 

I completed my graduate training in clinical psychology at the Ohio State University in 1985, and have been licensed as a psychologist in Washington since 1987 (license number PY1148).  Though my initial training was primarily in Behavioral Medicine, my areas of interest and expertise have expanded over the years so that a thumbnail sketch of the services I currently provide would include the following:

  • Management of depression and/or problems with mood and pervasive unhappiness
  • Management of debilitating anxiety and fears, including social phobia
  • Issues and concerns specific to the LGBT community
  • Behavioral Medicine, including pain management as well as the behavioral (lifestyle) components of other kinds of chronic health problems (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, MS and HIV/AIDS) 
  • Management of problems associated with chemical dependency (alcohol and other drugs) and other kinds of addiction (including gambling and sexual addiction)
  • Management of symptoms related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

I only work with adult clients, and I work with couples as well as individuals.  I'm very comfortable collaborating with other health care professionals when appropriate, including psychiatrists and ARNP's, in addition to primary care providers.


My approach to therapy:

My belief is that the therapy relationship I establish with my clients provides a context or crucible for forging behavior change.  My approach to treatment tends to be practical, with an emphasis on observable improvements -- in patterns of interacting with others, and in the overall quality of one's emotional life.  While I certainly acknowledge that insight is useful and important, what I'm really looking for as a therapist/guide is clear evidence that my client is doing things differently, and is feeling better as a result.

During my formal training, I was intially shaped by a number of theoretical and practical approaches that would fall under the general heading of learning theory (behavoral and cognitive-behavioral therapy primarily).  As my practice skills grew over time however, these were later supplemented by a treatment style that borrows heavily from the tradition of analytic psychotherapy.  And, since the early 1990's, I've routinely added components of Mindfulness practice to my clinical work, based on my own practice and on the ever-growing empirical evidence that Mindfulness training facilitates most any behavioral and emotional change that someone would wish to make.

Thus, as a therapist, I play the role of guide and prompter.  My aim is to provide a safe place for you to describe and explore whatever thoughts and feelings you bring to your work, and to help you to remain honest with yourself in the process.