About Therapy
If you’re expecting an old white man with a sweater and glasses…
… as you lay on a couch and share your darkest secrets, then I am beyond happy to inform you that you have come to the wrong place.
I am so much more relational than that. (Plus, I can’t help myself to jump in with comments and questions since I share a genuine curiosity about who you are as a person.)
What you will see and appreciate is that when I come to “work,” I DON’T put on my “therapist hat.”
I am the same person in and out of the office.
My clients want more than to listen to themselves speak.
If that’s all you want, then there are plenty of psychoanalysts in Beverly Hills that will charge you your liver five times a week. And if that doesn’t kill you, they’ll charge you your kidneys and lungs, too! (They will spare you your heart since you need that for therapy!)
But in all seriousness (and no disrespect to that stereotype of treatment), I imagine you’re looking for something more personal… something more interactive… something that will spare you your vital organs as you become the person that you want to be.
My clients are trying to figure out the age-old question of “Who the hell am I?” They also have pain and hurt from experiences they have suppressed for the benefit of others.
I know that therapy can intimidate…
You don’t want anyone to know you have “problems,” and it’s tiring putting on a fake face for everyone to see.
Plus, I know there’s a huge stigma of shame attached to it among people of color.
But I think you will find working with me inviting, pleasant, and challenging… with an added bit of humor. After all, that is the one intervention that transcends time, culture, social class, and sexual orientation!
The relationship between client and therapist is the most important thing.
It is debatable which theoretical orientation is the most useful: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic, and Humanistic. But none of that matters if trust and vulnerability are not developed between the client and therapist.
About Me
You probably want to know…
… that I graduated with a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Antioch.
… or that I spent two years studying “Gestalt Therapy.”
… or that I used to work with victims of abuse and crime.
… or that I worked in special education with “emotionally disturbed children.”
These were important to shaping who I am, but let me tell you some other experiences that have truly defined my life…
Things you might not have guessed…
I spent five weeks living in an orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I’ve volunteered there since 2004.
I was put on academic probation twice as an undergraduate but still prevailed.
I have a deep love for the ocean and spend my off-time scuba diving and doing underwater photography.
I had the most lovable 100-pound pit bull, Kissimmee, who died in 2018.
I spent four and a half months traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Bangkok, Thailand, where I ran with the bulls in Pamplona and reconnected with lost family members in China.
I have been rejected and told that I wasn’t good enough more times than I can remember.
I say all this to remind you that I am human, just like you, and we’re probably not that different in specific ways.
Let’s put my years of experience to work for you!
I have had the honor of bearing witness to my clients’ pain and celebrating their healing…
I have had the privilege of seeing them find a voice that they never knew they had…
And I have had the joy of hearing them laugh like no one is listening…
That is my hope for you and our work together.
Call me today, and let’s schedule your free 15- to 20-minute consultation: (804) 310-7516.