Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic helps you figure out how you got here by exploring past experiences. I will help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself by asking thought provoking questions and connecting some dots you may not have thought were related before.

As part of my time as an intern I spent 3 years training at the Psychodynamically oriented Maple Counseling Center in Beverly Hills where I learned about unconscious processes and how they are manifested in the client's present behavior. The goals of psychodynamic therapy are client self-awareness and understanding of the influence of the past on present behavior.

During situations of extreme stress, our mind creates beliefs and patterns that then impact how we behave moving forward. Psychodynamic therapy helps us identify and unpack those beliefs and file them in our brains in healthy ways.

Humans are amazing! How we make meaning of the world grows out of our core beliefs. Our core beliefs are everything we are told and experience, directly or indirectly, starting from the earliest point possible including our attachment stance.

This form of therapy encourages clients to gain insight into their feelings, thoughts, and relationships by examining unresolved conflicts and emotional struggles. It can help clients uncover hidden motivations and patterns that influence their lives.

My initial training as a therapist was focused utilizing psychodynamic therapy and how family history plays a role in ones issues going forward. I have continued to utilize this approach as it can be a major factor in ones ability to move forward. It can give insight to how the past can and does affect the present.

I help clients uncover and understand the deeper, often unconscious factors driving their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. By exploring past experiences and patterns, I guide individuals toward lasting change. My approach is empathetic and insightful, allowing clients to gain clarity and healing from within.

I was trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy at the University of Chicago. Psychodynamic therapy, combined with other approaches, such as energy therapy techniques can be very effective in treating a number of conditions. That said, I don't get stuck on one or two approaches. That would be like a medical doctor who only prescibes penicillin. A good therapist needs a lot of tools in his or her toolbox.

I believe psychodynamic theory explains the power of the therapy process. By increasing awareness about who we are, how we interact with our world, and why we do the things we do, we discover patterns of relating to ourselves and others and explore the purpose of these patterns. This awareness empowers us to have choices over who we are and how we relate to others. Psychodynamic therapy allows us to get to the root of what is going on to create lasting change.

Becoming a parent can often cause us to analyze how we were parented. It can be helpful to explore our own childhood experiences to understand ourselves, why we react to our children in certain ways, and inform us about how we want to parent our own children.

explore childhood issues understand defense mechanisms

Graduated with a concentration in psychodynamic psychology

The idea of peeling back the layers and seeing ourselves more clearly, the unconscious to conscious process of self-discovery is what draws me to psychodynamic approaches. Far from static, psychodynamic theories continue to evolve, exploring new paths into understanding of personality. I pay close attention to the client's relational patterns, using the therapeutic bond as a mirror and a clue into the individual's interpersonal relationships.

As a psychodynamic therapist, I am deeply committed to understanding the unconscious influences shaping thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. My training focused on the intricacies of attachment, relational dynamics, and the enduring impact of early life experiences. I help clients explore these patterns, uncover unresolved conflicts, and develop greater self-awareness. This approach fosters lasting emotional growth and creates meaningful, transformative change in relationships and life.

I offer an integrative, psychodynamic approach informed by mindfulness. Together we will strive to understand how past experience has influenced present-day thoughts, emotions, and behaviors -- and access your authentic voice to make new choices that are aligned with your values and beliefs.

What happens between us as we relate is often a microcosm of the outside world. How important to understand this with clarity and compassion. My expertise here, again, is in the lifelong practice towards authentic relationally.

Psychodynamic therapeutic approaches look for themes and underlying patterns in the ways we relate to ourselves and others. I follow your lead as we connect the various life experiences you’ve had. Overtime, you’ll experience greater levels of insight and awareness of the patterns that have been helpful as well as those that are no longer serving you. This creates depth of understanding and lasting transformation.