ATH

Assessment, trust that I understand your needs and the intervention chosen are the keys to a successful

therapeutic outcome. All three progress in overlap as I listen to understand your unfolding story and the

effects upon your present views and functioning, check aith you on the accuracy of my interpretations

and introduce elements for change along the way.    

 

In conjunction with your unfolding story and description of your current and past situations

and how you functioned within them,we work to create

     -new skills such as problem solving, assertion, stress-reaction reduction

     

    -the reconfiguration of constructed experiences and concepts to better fit your current realities;

    -the updating of old patterns of behaviors and ideas to reinforce this;

    -the communication and relationships skills and an increased ability to tolerate intimate relationships.

Finally, the ongoing application of these to this and other parts of your life can result in opening doors

of opportunity you never knew existed as change begins in one realm, such as work, and spreads to other

areas as relationships, parenting, spirituality, religion, coping with illness and loss until your life gains the

balance that allows you to continue building on your own.

MY ROLE

As I learn the uniqueness that makes you you, it is my job to employ the assessment  and treatment skills honed through these years of clinical and personal experience to identify the strengths and insights you bring with you; comfort level with change; meanings and reactions you have assigned to your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual life, how you cope with life’s stresses, the blocks created to protect your vulnerabilities, the tools available and those to be learned, what may be blocking you from achieving this and what you need to best help you move ahead. These and other factors help determine which combination of conventional and alternative therapies may be most productive at what moments.

                                                             

Your active participating in therapy helps to ensure the changes you want to make become more easily accessible and enduring. It is your job to continue to let me know what “fits”  for you, your responses to the work

we are doing and to prepare for the next session by highlighting what you have taken home with you from the last session so we can begin where you need to begin and following up on any between-session work.

BACKGROUND

MY CLINICAL BACKGROUND-          

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

                          

After twenty six years working in inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings and in private practice (21 years), I have extensive experience working with people from all

walks of life, adults of all ages and older adolescents and couples and families. Topcstance abuse, major losses to life-stage transitions, identity issues,

 

has been with with individuals, couples and families and facilitating groups to alter substance abuse, family relationships, self care-taking and stress-response reduction.

I employ a broad range of therapeutic modalities (and have the expertise to know what and when wo offer whatappears to bst fit for each client from each of these.

The writing and publication of articles for The Wall Street Journal on

individual/family and employment topics and other publications on

a variety of clinical topics

 

 

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY- CHICAGO-MSW WITH CLINICAL FOCUS, 1,600 hours of supervision

in inpatient and out patient psychiatric s settings and one year academic master level course work

 

INSTITUTE FOR JUVENILE RESEARCH-UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,CHICAGO-One year training  program in working with families and couples

 

ONGOING EDUCATION AND TRAINING-

TEACHER-INSTRUCTOR

Eighth grade English and History, Instructor at college level for professional

and creativity classes  

 

COURT MEDIATOR

Facilitating non-adversary resolution for litigated cases awith in the Chicago Court System

    TO LEARN /MORE ABOUT THE CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS

                                      I DRAW FROM CLICK ON

                                                 INTERVENTIONS

The writing and publication of articles for The Wall Street Journal on

individual/family and employment topics and other publications on

a variety of clinical topics

 

In order to serve my client base, I have remained on many

insurance panels. Contact yours to verify if I am listed.

THERAPIES

CLINICAL INTERVENTION

Based on each client’s unique perspective and how they incorporate this into their life style, I select which therapies best fit their needs at any point in time through ongoing assessments and client feedback of what is working for them and how our work in general is progressing.

In addition identifying what other factors are blocking your move forward through the perceptions experiences formed at an early age that created a life map not fitting the life skills you have developed through the years through:

Cognitive/Behavioral (ways of altering what you are thinking, the language you are using and the meanings and perceptions you assign them and the actions you employ to express and reinforce these ) interventions (change agents) grounded in Self Psychology (how we develop into relative stable functioning adults with a comfortable sense of who we are). Drawn on also are other proven therapies continually intertwined to fit each client’s unique presentation and current clinical needs:

Each therapist should have a theoretical base from which to view human development for it is in

the process of becoming who we are now, how we view our world and ourselves and where we fit

into both our environment and the larger universe that our current experience of ourselves in the

present sits. Working from this with flexability, a therapist then matches each client’s configuration

with their developmental path and to choose what they think is the most productive therapeutic

intervention to use at any particular time. Each therapist should be well schooled in a variety

of therapies as no one-type-fits-can but should the selections must also be reflective of researched

outcomes. Cognitive and behavioral therapies for individuals have proven to enhance outcome and,

for those who ask, they are my most frequently used intervention often intertwined with others.

The following are very brief descriptions of a range of interventons I use

THERAPUTIC ORIENTATION

We grow up in some configuration of a family and it is there we first learn the rules of living either from direct or indirect family messages or as a result of our interpretation. Life maps-formulas are aps of how we can get our needs met and be safe as children and, when unaltered, as adults.

  Brains develop[mnt the capacity    to interpret information and events more realistically-these formulas create their

NONE OF TAHE FOLLOWING SHOULD STAND ALONE AS THE SOLE INTERVENTION, BUT BE COMBINED WITH OTHER THERAPIES AND USED IN VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS AS NEEDED

.

COGNITIVE /BEHAVORIAL THERAPY-CBT

                                                             

This is based on the belief that our thoughts, both rational and irrational

are the direct cause of both positive and negative feelings, both affecting behaviors. By identifying, assessing their reality and altering their content and, if necessary, their origin, our perspectives change and thus, with the learning and practice of new skills and verbalization restructuring, so do our behaviors.  CBT has been clinically proven to help clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders, including depression and anxiety.

INTERPERSONAL/RELATIONSHIP  (COUPLE ) THERAPY

Regardless of your status or configuration as a couple, communication skills are vital to creating and maintaining the vitality to sustain a growing relationship. By identifying the conflicts upsetting the harmony couples are seeking, addressing their comfort with emotional intimacy and improving how this is communicated, a balance within relationship that best fits a couples unique configuration is established.

I have developed a communication intervention as the core of my work which has been successful in not only creating this but in its maintaince after therapy has ceased.

SOLUTION FOCUSED BRIED THERAPY
Focusing on what clients would like to achieve with less emphasis on problems troubles or mental health issues. A vision of the desired future and creation of an adjustable map combined with an emphasis on one’s strengths helps achieve change.

FAMILY THERAPY

A theoretical core to all my work is the interconnectedness of all aspects of our lives.  My post graduate training in family/couple therapy reinforced this belief and enhanced my ongoing development of skills to facilitate change with a focus on the many factors that contribute to any identified area of discomfort. Seen as a complex system having its own, rules, beliefs, needs, patterns, roles and even language patterns, the identified problem is assigned not to one members' behaviors, but to the family dynamic with therapy focuses on realigning the family to best provide for each ember’s needs

STRESS REACTION REDUCTION ((MINDFULNESS) THERAPY

The ongoing intervention of refocusing our thoughts, our attention to observe what is happening in the present moment with out judgment as a way to reduce anxiety and

enhance feelings of well being. Used to

address medical and mental health problems,

these techniques are widely recognized as

effective in activating change in all aspects

of our lives. I have used these along side traditional therapies for many years, having

written a 60 minute relaxation tape, to teach

and practice simple relaxation skills.

RATIONAL EMOTIVE THERAPY RET

Emotional responses that out weigh the triggering event can cause embarrassing and harmful behaviors. I emphasize an awareness of these responses as a “red flag” and then work with techniques to calm and balance these to free our through process to perform at maxium capacity 

The most frequent question I am asked by prospective clients is if I have dealt with a particular

situation or problem. Following are many of their descriptions of a part of their life they wish to alter

RELATIONSHIPS/ATTACHMENTS

“I have trouble meeting people”-“As soon as I feel

close to someone I find fault with them”- “I have trouble getting along with people”-“I feel so empty, like there is

a big hole that can't be filed”-“I am so sad that my three

year relationship ended that I have no interest in anything”-

“I am afraid of getting serious and being hurt”- “We have

lost touch with each other”-“He/she has cheated on me”- “There is so much bickering”-“He/she tries to controls me”-  “I want children and he/she doesn’t”-“ He/she doesn’t want sex and avoids touching me”- He/she doesn’t listen to me”- “He/she always finds fault with me”--“I am going through

a messy divorce”- “My (spouse) wants a divorce and I don’t know what to do”- “My spouse has little interest in my life-and so on

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

“I am sad”-“Something is missing in my life”-

“Negative thoughts are getting me down”--“Its hard to get out of bed in the morning”-“I feel left out of what others are doing,-“my life feels unbalanced”-“I am so worried about what is going to happen that I can’t sleep”- “I feel empty inside”-and so on           

PARENTING

“My children don’t listen”- My kids are getting

into trouble”- “My child has a medical problem” “My spouse and I argue over parenting”-“How do I get my

kids to study, to do their chores?” “My child is addicted

to drugs”-“I can’t get my young adult out of the house supporting him/herself”- “My young adult has a mental illness”-”I am getting divorced and worried about the children”- “My spouse is fighting with me over custody

of the children”- and so on

EMOTIONAL CONTROL

“I have much to be thankful for but sill angry over small things”-“My anger at my......is ruining our relationship” -“I have been getting angrier lately and am afraid it will get out of control”- “Why do I feel so nervous all the time?”“I feel sad about ....but just can't cry-what is wrong with me?” nothing!)”--  “I cry/eat for no reason”- and so on

“I just don't have much faith in myself ”- “I work hard but just can't seem to get what I want, there must be something wrong with me!”-“I have difficulty learning in some ares but know I am smart and so on

LIFE STAGES

“I don’t know what to do with myself now that the children are older”-“I just don't know how will be able to be on my own”- “I love my partner but know when we marry that

I will have to give up my life to raise children”- “Retirement is scary”- “My (family member) is critically ill and I am exhausted caring for them”-“My friend just died and I have started thinking about my own health”- and so on

EDUCATION

“I feel stupid even though others say I’m smart” -“I have

no idea what I want to study”-“My parents push me to get better grades but I can't seem to get organized”-“I have

trouble paying attention in class”-“I don't want anyone

to know I am a poor reader, can't remember names”-“I need

to return to school but don't want to”-“I can't keep up with what the teacher is saying”- “I want to go to college and be

like everyone else-without any help”-and so on

MEDICAL/MENTAL HEALTH                                    

"I just learned I have)...... and am terrified”-How do I tell

my children about my condition?”- “I am worried I will get

(the physical/mental disease that runs in my family”- “My doctor says I need to learn to reduce the stress in my life

to get/stay healthier” and so on