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Treatment Focus and Philosophy
Emotional problems often develop and persist because of our inflexibility in responding to one or more aspects of ourselves that we find unacceptable. These emotional and behavioral characteristics might seem like the problem, but in fact it is often the attempted hiding of those elements that causes the internal and interpersonal problems that leave people feeling frustrated, hopeless and isolated. All of my approaches are aimed at helping my clients develop new perspectives and abilities, and effective ways of relating to aspects of themselves that are perceived to be so unacceptable.
I use a variety of approaches developed in my 50 years of post-graduate clinical practice, and I am still learning. From the start, family systems theory and approaches have been one of the main foundations of my work. I have extensively studied different hypnotic approaches to psychotherapy, and find clinical hypnosis and hypnotic communication to be an invaluable aid for understanding my clients and helping them master new cognitive, emotional and behavioral skills. Especially important to me is the work of Milton Erickson, M.D., who was a leader in conceptualizing and expanding the uses of clinical hypnosis. I am familiar with and trained in powerful helpful treatment models such as EMDR and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), but clinical hypnosis and hypnotic communication are without question the foundational elements of my clinical approach.
Clinical hypnosis is an incredibly useful tool for helping clients utilize the connections between conscious and unconscious aspects of their minds and bodies. By definition, it is hard for us to know in any absolute way what is happening in our unconscious mind.
In my therapeutic approach a person's unconscious mind is not the source of their problems, but either by genetic influences, or family and societal influences a person tries to disregard, deny, or destroy parts of themselves they may think are bad and perhaps even unlovable...that they are unlovable.
I like the metaphor that the conscious and unconscious elements of the mind and body are parts of the same team, and an essential part of psychotherapy and counseling is moving to a state of mind and body where they are identified, clarified, and cooperating. Symptoms are likely to develop when that balance is not present.
updated 05-08-2025
