Find a Therapist in Huntington Beach, California.

Psychotherapy, therapy, counseling. To some, those words mean different things. To me, they all mean a professional relationship built upon open communication and trust which operates in a safe and caring environment. A relationship formed for the purpose of promoting health, healing and growth. A relationship where we don't just talk about the everyday things; we talk about the deep and important things, about the places where you are hurt and angry and afraid. And in the talking, the healing begins.

Psychotherapy or counseling is an essential tool to provide individuals, couples or family groups who may have been in conflict, discord or even crisis to a new level of resolve and ideally into a functioning working relationship with restored possibilities of effective communications and an integration of new responses and new relationship insight and responsibility. Counseling an psychotherapy are meant to help a person see themselves and the world around them in a manner which can provide them with valuable insights, awareness and useful life tools which will lead to effective and successful behaviors, personal contentment and greater possible happiness.

I work with an entire person--the mind, emotions, body, spirit, relationships. I offer an alternative approach to traditional psychotherapy because sometimes we are stuck beyond our thoughts. I believe we are often stuck beyond how we think about something, but by how our body holds and remembers the experiences. After all, we feel the anxiety in our chest, shoulders or stomach. When we are depressed, we struggle to move, sleep, concentrate etc. I work to remove the block from wherever it is stuck. My clients come to me after years of ineffective therapy. They are looking for more than talking about their struggles or identifying how they think about them in favor of a change in living.

Many of us seek therapy to get relief from emotional distress, or to manage a problem that we are having in our lives. But often, those problems are connected to something deeper and causes us to feel “stuck” in patterns that we are unaware of. A full exploration of your history helps to uncover those more unconscious thoughts and reactions. Learning to manage the problems, while also addressing the underlying triggers is a crucial part in feeling more effective.

Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods to help a person change behavior and overcome problems in a positive manner. Its aim is to help people understand the thoughts behind feeling anxious or depressed and addressing these thinking patterns. Psychotherapy will help you change behaviors and habits that are limiting you, to experiencing your fullest potential.

My approach to psychotherapy is collaborative in that I work with my clients to unearth dysfunctional patterns of behaving or relating that are keeping them from the fulfilling lives and/or relationships they seek. As a solutions-focused psychotherapist I use complementary therapy approaches and techniques to teach clients new skills, increase understanding and insight, and build healthier lifestyle habits that are customized to address their unique therapy goals. My clients are encouraged to practice these new behaviors and ways of thinking between sessions so that the changes they make through our work together produce more satisfying and fulfilling lives.

A high level of trust and comfort for you in psychotherapy is a must. Working with an experienced therapist you can rely upon to listen skillfully will help you to learn to to lift negative moods, become a better problem solver, or improve relationships. Can simply sharing your problems with a therapist be enough to help you improve? I often hear from new patients that they were dissappointed in prior therapy because they were not helped to foucus and to use specific tools that not only made them feel better in therapy, but also in their lives. Therapy should be designed to help you learn at you own, most effective pace for you.

Psychotherapy can be a frightening word because “psycho” brings up images of Norman Bates and he is certainly someone none of us want to be associated with. The truth is that psychotherapy is just a fancy word for counseling. If “therapy” is used alone, people ask if it is physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc. A prefix was needed to distinguish it from other therapies and unfortunately “psycho” was chosen. Please don’t let the word stop you from seeking any necessary help you may be seeking. Needing help doesn’t mean you are crazy or that you are weak. We all need help at various stages of our lives and if you are in need now, please let me assist you. Call me at 714-751-0888.