David Russell, Ph.D.

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MY BACKGROUND 
 
EDUCATION
 
  • Double major in math and psychology, Swarthmore College
  • Masters and Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Rutgers University
  • Fellowship, Yale University
AWARDS
  • Graduated with distinction in psychology
  • Highest score in state on licensing exam for psychologists
PAST POSITIONS
  • Director of outpatient counseling, Klingberg Family Centers
  • Clinical instructor, Yale School of Medicine
 
 MY STORY
 
 In 1991 I went through a career crisis. I became a psychologist so that I could help people make life altering changes – but I wasn’t seeing those kind of changes in my clients or in my supervisor’s clients. I gave myself 2 years to find what really worked or I was going to have to find another field of work.

I traveled across the country, getting different trainings and looking at different models. I took the most effective therapies and blended them together to get to the core in a fast and focused way, to resolve problems at the root instead of just putting a bandaid on them.  
 
This new ACHIEVEMENT CENTERED approach to therapy differs from the traditional 45-minutes-a-week talk therapy model in 3 ways - 1) I focus on quickly getting to the root & core of your problems, 2) I use 3-hour sessions so that you have enough time to really get rid of major baggage and 3) instead of letting therapy meander with questions like "What do you want to talk about today," I help you develop a crystal clear goal of therapy in your first session so that by the end of your treatment program you will know without a doubt that you got what you came for and you are where you want to be.
 
 
GET TO THE ROOT & CORE
 
95% of therapists practice some form of talk therapy, we are in the 5% that give you another choice.
 
Talk therapy works from the top down, training you to use your thinking mind to control your emotional mind. While this model works for many problems, it falls apart if you have strong emotional reactions because strong emotions pull the plug on your thinking mind.
 
We do the exact opposite – we work from the bottom up, helping you to identify and eliminate the root causes of your reactions to help you to:
  • Heal your emotional wounds,
  • Eliminate your emotional baggage
  • Break through your emotional blocks
Once you find and eliminate the root causes of your emotional reactions you won’t be able to get yourself upset about them even when you try. Imagine how great it will feel when you don’t have to worry about getting triggered anymore, when you can just confidently do what you have always known you could and should do.
 
 
3-HOUR SESSIONS

At first, I tried to squeeze everything into standard 45-minute sessions. That worked for some clients but many were still stuck. I started scheduling my clients who weren’t making real progress at the end of the day so that we could go over if needed. I found that just about all of my previously stuck clients started making real progress with 90-minute or 3-hour sessions.

So I reorganized my practice into what it is today – 90-minute sessions where we help you achieve up to a month’s worth of counseling in each session, 3-hour sessions where we help you achieve up to 3 month’s of counseling and ‘mental health days’ (a 3-hour session in the morning and another 3-hour session in the afternoon) where you can achieve up to 6 months of counseling in a single day.
 
 
CRYSTAL CLEAR GOALS

Traditional 45-minutes-once-a-week therapy sessions often start with the therapist asking, “What do you want to talk about this week?” You move from topic to topic and after a few months or years you are not sure what exactly you have accomplished.

We help you identify a crystal clear goal in your very first session.

From your very first session we help you identify a concrete goal of therapy that we call your PERSONAL MINOR MIRACLE, something that is impossible for you to do now that will be proof positive that:
  • You got what you came for
  • You are where you want to be
  • It is more than worth your investment in time, finances and effort
From that moment on, every minute that we spend with you is focused on doing whatever-it-takes to help you achieve your goal as quickly as humanly possible.

WARNING: This will be some of the hardest emotional work that you have ever done. You will be tired after every session. We will be your THERAPIST/COACH, encouraging you to accomplish more than you thought was possible in each session.

 MY COMMITMENT TO YOU

Since 1991 we have been completely committed to one thing, helping you to get rid of your emotional baggage as quickly as humanly possible. We use feedback from our clients and the latest results from neuroscience to continually improve the programs we offer.
 
 
 

Sincerely,

Dr. Dave Russell
 


Dr. David Russell Reaches

West Hartford CT
Avon CT