Areas of Expertise

Anxiety and Depression

“It takes more than a sudden leap to change a life. It takes a
conscious act, a decision to take our life into our hands.”
Mildred Newman and Bernard Berkowitz

Depression and Anxiety can appear in many ways:

Maybe you have difficulty sleeping, and it seems like you cannot stop thinking about the events of this day, or slow down the worry about tomorrow; perhaps ongoing feelings of uneasiness or sadness prevents you from enjoying life; you may be fighting battles with irritation and anger and notice that it is difficult for you to turn off the thoughts feeding your discontentment; perhaps your self-esteem is low, and you find yourself pleasing others out of fear not to otherwise be liked; maybe strong worry turns into panic attacks; perhaps a health condition, job loss, divorce, or loss of a loved one is affecting your mood in a disabling manner; possibly, you feel stuck in a vicious cycle of negative, self-defeating thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Depression can be lifted. The “Anxiety Rules” can be mindfully changed and removed, and you can become safely embodied.

With professional help, you can explore and learn how your unique experiences have influenced your self-talk and self-image, emotions, beliefs, choices, physical responses, and relationships. Seeking counseling is one of the conscious decisions that can give you the support, skills, and guidance needed to achieve the changes you desire. Your present or past problems do not have to control you for the rest of your life!

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Trauma

“Our feelings and our bodies are like water flowing into water.
We learn to swim within the energies of the (body) senses."
Tarthang Tulku

Psychological trauma is characterized by the internal psychological war between the will to deny horrifying events and the will to talk about them. The more traumatic or out-of-the-normal context of living an event is, the greater the urge usually is to deny its impact. Our attempts to numb the physical, emotional and intellectual responses to whatever horrifying experience we have had are natural to our very being. Not uncommonly, one moment can also become "frozen in time," and remembering what happened can feel as bad as it did when the event occurred, because the images, thoughts, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. Memories like that have a lasting negative effect that may interfere with the way we see the world and the way we relate to other people.

When we witness or are exposed to any kind of disturbing event, we activate all of our internal defenses to protect the wounds inflicted upon us as a means for survival. The degree of self-protection is equal to the severity of the wound itself. However, the protective shield we use can create destructive coping skills, keeping us trapped in emotional, cognitive, somatic, and behavioral patterns, instead of helping us to heal our wounds and free us from the unwanted internal imprisonment.

Working with a trusted professional can help open the door to the places within which has kept you stuck. Understanding of why experiences stored in your biological, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual memory have been locked in, and continued to cause existential difficulties, is possible. You can heal from the damage done by past or recent trauma!
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Life Transitions - Grief and Loss

“When one door closes, another open, but we often look
so long and regretfully upon the closed door,
we do not see the ones which open for us.”
Alexander Graham Bell

From the time we were born and throughout life, we experience a wide range of transitions. Weather joyful or painful, uneventful or life changing, life enhancing or life threatening, they are existential milestones with the power to affect us deeply and profoundly.

Family of origin experiences, the educational journey, relationships, marriage and partnership, becoming a parent, separations, blending families, children leaving home, change of geographical location, accidents, sudden deaths, loss of employment, loss of a loved one, medical procedures and illness, aging, and the journey into retirement, are but a few examples of common life transitions and changes, which can severely impact our daily existence and the way we treat ourselves.

When it feels like life has given you more than you can handle, reaching out for professional support from a licensed mental health counselor and psychotherapist, can help you to shift focus from the door that may have closed, to the doors which open for you.

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Substance Abuse & Addictions

“From the very beginning to the very end, pointing to our own hearts to discover what is true isn’t just a matter of honesty, but also compassion and respect for what we see.”
Pema Chödrön

Alcohol, in all its different forms, is a substance used all over the globe for a variety of reasons: to optimize the experience of a gourmet meal and as a tool for entertainment and socializing; as a means to reduce stress; to relax; to increase intimacy; to have fun; to belong; to reduce shyness; to feel more approachable; to forget about painful experiences; to feel less fearful; to feel more confident; to enhance sexual experience. Drugs, whether legally prescribed or illegally obtained, provide the same desired emotional and behavioral changes as alcohol. The list of the miraculous changes provided by mood altering substances is endless.

Endless is also the social, emotional, and physical pain and destruction that follow in the footsteps of substance abuse and chemical dependency: violation of personal values; diminished self worth and self esteem; shattered dreams; defensive and irresponsible behavior; neglect of self and others; personality changes; mental health problems; damaged relationships with significant others, children, or other family members; work-related problems or loss of employment; spiritual meltdown and symbolic death.

Gambling, Compulsive Buying, Internet Addiction and Sexual Compulsivity, are other sources of entertainment and pleasure which, when obsessively and compulsively used, have the power to cause irreparable damage to ourselves and others, most of all to the people we love the most.

If you have become aware that alcohol, drugs, and addictive/compulsive behaviors, perhaps in co-existence with a mood disorder, keep you hostage and provide more pain than pleasure, more anxiety than relaxation, more isolation than connection, I encourage you to seek professional treatment. A safe and trusting alliance with a therapist who understands the dynamics of substance abuse and addictions and it's connection to dual disorders, can be the difference between continued self-destruction and the discovery of your true self and restoration of important relationships.

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April, 2010