I work with people who truly want to get unstuck and make some actual impact in their life goal of being a better version of themselves. My approach to therapy has been influenced greatly by Carl Rogers, Aaron Beck and Pema Chödrön, and the keys to Emotional Flexibility: Acceptance, Compassion and Curiosity.
Of course, that’s pretty boring stuff. Let’s try that again with something more interesting:
- Eugene is my home town.
- I graduated in 1992 with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work.
- Two of my sisters are also therapists, and my father is a retired Psychologist.
- I learned to drive a stick shift on the hills of downtown Seattle.
- Growing up with three younger sisters, I’ve never learned (or cared) to understand the rules for football.
- I’m pretty good with Star Trek trivia.
- I both love, and shudder at, the 80’s.
- My two favorite books for personal growth are The Alchemist and Who Moved My Cheese (only 95 pages; you can’t beat that).
For those that are fans of the Myers-Briggs, here’s my results:
I have a strong belief that each patient already has the innate skills and potential for tremendous growth, and is not “defective”. I feel strongly that we can help you accomplish your goals by working on what I like to call the 8-Key Life Skills together:
- Face life openly (what we avoid imprisons us)
- You must be curious to learn about your hidden thoughts and motivations, without assigning blame – this part is tricky.
- Accept yourself as you are and stop trying to prove yourself.
- Let you past inform your future, but not control it.
- Our thoughts and actions can directly affect our emotions.
- How we respond to a situation is just as important as the situation itself.
- Personal growth can be difficult to achieve when pursing dreams rather than goals.
- How we talk to those we care about is more important than what we talk about.
It’s no surprise that how we think and act can directly impact how we feel. Specifically, it is our thoughts and behaviors, not other people, situations or things, that make us feel bad. When we use unhelpful thinking patterns, we tend to get “stuck in the muck” and end up spinning our wheels. Some of these patterns come from how we have learned to relate (or react) to life; others come from deep inside of us and are tightly connected to our views about our self worth, our beliefs about other people, and the world in general.
Treatment Approaches
My background includes training for CBT for depression & anxiety from the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Level 3 Practicum Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy. Specifically, I use:
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Our thoughts create or impact our feelings and behavior.
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy: How we talk with our partner is more important that what we talk about.
- Internal Family Systems (IFS): The different parts of ourselves all have a voice that needs to be heard.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Choosing to live in the moment allows you to move forward all-together.
