No single approach to therapy fits every person.
Over the years I have trained in a number of therapeutic approaches, but I have never believed that the method should determine the therapy. I begin instead with the person in front of me—what you are experiencing, how you understand yourself, and what seems helpful as our work develops.
Sometimes therapy is simply a conversation. At other times, words don’t seem to reach what is happening. We may become curious about different parts of yourself, work with an image or something you notice in your body or use an approach such as Brainspotting or Internal Family Systems (IFS) to explore an experience in another way.
These approaches are not separate kinds of therapy that I impose on our work. They are ways of listening and exploring that I may draw upon when they seem useful.
Working with Parts
Most of us know the experience of saying, “A part of me wants to do this, but another part doesn’t.” At times these different parts of ourselves can become much more pronounced. One part may understand something perfectly well while another remains frightened, angry, ashamed, or determined to protect us.
IFS offers one way of understanding and working with these different aspects of ourselves. I use it when that way of looking at an experience is helpful. Sometimes simply becoming curious about a part—rather than judging it or trying to make it go away—can open something important in therapy.
Brainspotting
Sometimes we understand something intellectually but continue to feel its effects emotionally or physically. At other times we may not have words for what we are experiencing at all. Brainspotting gives us another way of staying with an experience by paying attention to where and how it is felt rather than relying entirely on talking about it.
I may suggest Brainspotting when it seems that it could help us approach something differently. Sometimes it becomes a significant part of our work; sometimes we use it briefly; and sometimes we don’t use it at all.
Guided Imagery and Other Ways of Working
Guided imagery has also been part of my work for many years. Images can sometimes emerge spontaneously in therapy and offer a way of experiencing or understanding something that words haven’t quite captured. I may also draw upon EMDR and other approaches I have learned over the years, while paying attention to what emerges through thoughts, feelings, images, and bodily experience.
The Therapy Comes First
Whatever approach we use, the foundation of my work remains person-centered. Techniques can be helpful, but therapy happens within a relationship. My role is not to fit you into a particular model, but to accompany you with curiosity and respect as we discover what helps you move toward greater understanding, healing, and choice.
Safe Harbor Therapy 