I’d like to tell you a little about myself, what TCTG means to me, and why it might be right for you.
I think when you visit a clinician, you would like to think that the work they do is their true vocation; something they are devoted to, and a vehicle by which they do good in the world. That is true of me and my group, TCTG. I knew I wanted to help people with problems, with communicating, with career choices, and with becoming the best version of themselves from my early teens. So, once past the retail and restaurant gigs, my entire career has been about that.
Along the way I’ve also gained experience in personality disorders, depression, assertiveness, relationships, addiction, trauma, and helping people with disabilities. I’ve worked as a language teacher, textbook author and curriculum designer. I worked at a hospital and loved that, and I worked at a methadone clinic and loved that too. In recent years I’ve branched out into emergency work and working with cases in-home on an on-call basis (the concierge work), and psychological representation in the business world.
A few years ago I devised Done With Drinking as an alternative to every other system that is out there. Then I began work on Total Context Therapy, which is a discovery process that takes you deep inside yourself. It helps you see yourself as a child, a teen, a young adult, etcetera, so you can grow past phases and parts of yourself that are now dysfunctional, and become reacquainted with pleasing parts of yourself long forgotten. Yes, I do talk about the superego, otherwise known as your parents! But I have come to my largely psychodynamic perspective honestly, because I was initially trained as a strict behaviorist. I don’t believe we can “think our feelings” or rationalize with them and expect to feel any better. Therefore TCT is a process by which you unearth, appreciate, and detangle the complicated knot of feelings that comprise you. Most people find the process enjoyable.
While I’m not glum, I’m not the most positive person you will ever meet either, where I will say to you, “Look on the bright side!” Your friends can do that. I respect that you have been through a lot in your life, and you are looking for ways to feel more adult, at peace, and happier. I bring experience, perspective, a good ear, and warm regard to this work. I think you will see, and feel, the difference.