My Approach
Mind-Body treatment of trauma and self-harm is based on the latest studies in how the brain and body react to traumatic experiences. Traditional talk therapies don’t address the body and, therefore, are limited in what they can do for you.
Okay, but maybe you have these questions:
IS A HOLISTIC MIND-BODY APPROACH LIKE REJECTING MEDICINE AND LICKING TREES INSTEAD?
The kind of “holistic” treatment I do considers all the life factors that affect you, not simply what traditional therapy focuses on (which is only your thoughts and emotions). These factors include everything we can think of, like your sleep, your job, relationship patterns you learned as a child, physical symptoms of stress, etc.
It’s like looking at the WHOLE picture – that’s why it’s holistic.
I base any intervention on the latest cutting-edge scientific discoveries. We only lick trees when absolutely nothing else works. (just kidding)
I’VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR SO LONG, I DON’T THINK IT’S POSSIBLE TO CHANGE ** OR ** I’VE TRIED LOTS OF THINGS, AND WHY WOULD WHAT YOU DO WORK FOR ME WHEN NOTHING ELSE SEEMS TO WORK?
Lots of people who come to see me have been discouraged for a long time. Maybe they show up because they had a friend who wouldn’t quit begging them to call me and get help. Maybe a parent or spouse is nagging them, so they come see me just to get that person off their back.
The problems you’re dealing with are very tough, very difficult problems! They are not the kinds of problems people solve with self-help books or medication alone, going to yoga, getting a cat, taking up knitting, changing jobs, getting divorced, getting married, etc. I mean, these are real problems, aren’t they?!
It’s common that I’ll ask people to just give me a little percentage of hope. Just be willing to try and see if some – or even just one – of the interventions we come up with will help you, even a little bit. Sometimes what makes a difference at first is having better or kinder ideas about yourself and your problems and how they have affected your life. It also helps to understand what your brain is “trying” to do to fix the problem and how that very effort gets in the way of progress.
That’s why I say that your brain is benevolent… but it doesn’t always know what’s in your best interest. I’m really talking about the “emotion brain” or limbic system, sometimes called the mammalian brain.
But you’ll learn more about how your emotion brain hijacks your good intentions when you come in for a session. Often even that much of an understanding helps people find hope and see the possibilities that they were blind to before.
DO I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING TO GET BETTER?
Often clients are worried that talking about their past will make everything worse and will unravel overwhelming pain in the present.
Most avoid thinking about the trauma. Many worry that doing therapy means they’ll have to dredge up every detail (it doesn’t!), and they feel overwhelmed. I can help.
I have worked to develop expertise in the mind-body approach to therapy for over 30 years, including completing a post-doc at the Yale School of Medicine in Mind-Body Medicine and then continuing my learning as a faculty member at Yale University in the School of Medicine. Since leaving Yale, I have continually developed my therapy practice along cutting-edge mind-body principles. These include:
Limbic System-Oriented Trauma Therapy
What Actually Works to Stop Self-Harming
Becoming Powerful Using Boundaries; Leaving Anxiety Behind