A primary focus of my private practice is helping clients overcome Anxiety and Phobias including:
- Generalized Anxiety and Chronic Worry
- Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
- Fears of various situations and places including crowds, driving, being in elevators, airplanes, on bridges, etc.
- Shyness and fears of social situations, including public speaking and performing
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (see EMDR below)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which might include obsessive fears of contamination or germs/disease, fears of harming others or losing control, or unwanted sexual thoughts or images or fears of acting on them. (Here is a great NPR podcast discussing cutting-edge treatment of OCD, using Exposure and Response Prevention and ACT, as I do.)
If appropriate, I will go outside of my office with clients to do skill training in whatever environment is causing them distress, such as on BART, on bridges, elevators, crowds, or “contaminated” environments. We would do such “Exposure Therapy” in a gradual, step-by-step manner, with great care about your level of comfort. Read more about my use of Exposure Therapy to unravel anxiety and phobias here.
Another focus is dealing with Sexuality, Sexual Identity, and relationships including:
- Questioning and Coming Out issues: bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender
- Obsessional questioning and analyzing or doubting one’s sexual orientation (an OCD related-symptom)
- Self-Esteem and self-acceptance issues related to sexuality
- Family issues related to the sexuality of a member
- Relationship issues related to sexual intimacy
- Sexual compulsion and addiction or sexual avoidance
I also specialize in helping clients:
- Overcome Depression and the feeling of being “stuck” or hopeless
- Deal with change and loss related to career, relationships, or the passing of a loved one
- Stop self-defeating behaviors related to alcohol, drugs, food, spending, or work
- Improve quality of sleep and overcome insomnia and sleep difficulties.
- Manage health challenges related to chronic illness, pain, HIV, or disability
- Cope with job stress and burnout – better balance work and play
- Cope with the intensity of “startup” environments and co-founder relationships (more about this here)
- Develop more harmonious relationships and families
- Cultivate creativity, meaning, joy and peacefulness
Finally, I am well trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy) which I use to enable clients to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress of disturbing life events, including symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other stress reactions to life events, losses, or difficult memories (including terrifying panic attacks or phobias) or feelings of being “stuck”. EMDR is an integrative approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective and is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR people can often experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.