Welcome to my website. I am a psychologist and educator with over 39 years of clinical experience helping individuals and couples who are experiencing chronic or acute emotional distress, suffer from stress related somatic disorders, or who find themselves living a life without passion or intimacy. I provide clinical supervision and training for health professionals (psychologists, licensed professional counselors, naturopathic physicians) and give public lectures and seminars on issues related to emotions, emotional health, psychotherapeutic practice, Reichian and Gestalt therapy and somatic psychology. In the pages that follow, you will be able to find out more about my clinical and educational work.
A. Psychotherapy Services
I identify myself as a humanistic psychologist, and thus approach each client with the belief that, with the proper assistance, he or she has the capacity to heal and grow regardless of age or depth of emotional pain and distress. However, often the capacity to heal and grow gets trapped within life-long patterns of thinking, feeling, relating, and breathing that no longer support growth and change. I see my role as a psychotherapist as one of assisting my clients to recognize and remove the blocks to growth that stand at the center of their emotional distress, while helping them find new ways of being in the world that foster a lively and meaningful life.
In my clinical work I help clients who are suffering from:
depression
anxiety - symptoms of panic or generalized anxiety
relationship difficulties
loss of passion in work or love life
stress disorders - including PTSD
stress related (functional - emotionally based) somatic disorders
tension myositis syndrome (TMS)
loss/grief - recent or longstanding
trauma - either recent or an earilier unresolved trauma
alexithymia - difficulty in either feeling or identifying emotions
or are coping with a crisis in their lives that is effecting their emotional well being.
In taloring my work with each client according to his or her specific needs I combine the interpersonal and experiential approach of Gestalt therapy and the personality and somatic (body-focused, bioenergetic) approach of Reichian Therapy with the most current theories and research on human development, attachment, and emotional functioning.
The following are the psychotherapeutic services I offer.
1. Individual Psychotherapy
I typically meet with clients on a weekly basis for 45 minute sessions, and offer a free 30 minute initial consultation.
Psychotherapy sessions with a licensed psychologist are covered by many insurance plans and you can check to see if I am a provider under your plan. I bill your insurance directly and you can pay your portion on a session by session or monthly basis.
2. Contemporary Reichian Therapy
Contemporary Reichian Therapy (also referred to as orgone therapy) is an emotionally focused somatic psychotherapeutic approach that is often quite helpful for individuals who exhibit symptoms of PTSD, alexithymia, and stress related physical pains and psychosomatic disorders, as well as those individuals who are attempting to recover from traumatic events or unresolved grief - all of which are often a result of or exacerbated by unexpressed emotion or by difficulties in emotional regulation. Sessions are usually 45 minutes in duration and are often scheduled on a weekly basis. However, if you live a good distance from the Portland metropolitan area we can arrange to meet for a series of sessions over a few days. You can find more information about this approach on my linked web page (see menu to the left) and from the videos of prior lectures I have given (click on linked webpage "Videos: Past Conferences and Presentations"to the left).
B. Educational Opportunities
As stated above I provide clinical supervision and training for health professionals (psychologists, licensed professional counselors, naturopathic physicians) and give public lectures and seminars on issues related to emotions, emotional health, psychotherapeutic practice, Reichian and Gestalt therapy and somatic psychology. You may find out more about current and future classes and seminars as well as previous presentations I have given, as well as see videos of some of these presentations, all by clicking on the menu to the left.
C. Supervision and Training
1. Clinical Supervision
I offer clinical supervision for psychologists and mental health counselors who are interested in developing their skills in and their understanding of psychotherapy from a humanistic and somatic perspective. I am qualified to supervise Oregon and Washington interns seeking licensing as a Licensed Professional Counselor or Licensed Mental Health Counselor as well as Oregon and Washington psychologist interns.
2. Training in Somatic Psychotherapy: Contemporary Reichian Therapy Training Program
An in depth four-year training program for psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, and other health professionals who desire to become fully grounded in the theoretical and procedural fundamentals which are used in somatic psychotherapy and contemporary Reichian therapy practice. Click on the tab "Contemporary Reichian Therapy Training Program" to the left, for more information.
Helpful Links:
Gestalt Therapy Training Center- NW
Journal of Psychiatric Orgone Therapy
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