In my approach to therapy, I tend to utilize what we call in counseling lingo “appropriate self-disclosure,” meaning that if it is relevant to what my client is experiencing, I may share a part of my story.

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In that spirit of sharing, it has been my journey, navigating a prolonged illness, mental health struggles, moderately severe physical injuries, and uncertainties about my purpose and life direction that led me to seek therapy at different points in time.  I learned that although each practitioner I saw had their own approach, the connection I made with them went above and beyond any technique or training.

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As such, I have come to place relationship at the forefront of my practice, understanding that little progress can be made unless someone feels comfortable and safe enough to trust.  Therefore, I approach therapy in a somewhat relaxed manner, bringing what I hope is a conversational style and my best attempts at humor into the room.  I will admit that I have no magic wand, no universal trick that will make everything immediately “better.”

 

Still, in my life, I have often found that the desire for a magic wand really reflects a discomfort underneath our surface.

There is a quote from a training I did in existential psychology that has stuck with me, and I find it tends to underlie my approach to the world of therapy: “What bothers me most about you, is me.”  That is, if I am having an adverse reaction to a person or event, it is often deeply connected to a part of myself with which I might be uncomfortable.

 

For those who might prefer a more concrete explanation, my therapeutic focus aligns closely with existential and Buddhist psychology, drawing on thinkers such as Victor Frankl, Rollo May, Paul Tillich, and Irvin Yalom.  Combine an innate curiosity in and academic study of Marcus Aurelius, Martin Buber, Joseph Campbell, Pema Chödrön, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Aldous Huxley, Carl Jung, and the Dalai Lama, you start to get a picture of how I see the world.

 

However, more than any words can communicate, I find that chatting is really the best way to get a feel for another person, so do please feel to reach out if, after reading this, you think we might work well together navigating this crazy thing we call “life.”