Psychotherapy is one of those words that all of us recognize but few of us can define. In short, psychotherapy is what happens when two or more people come together with the goal of increasing emotional self awareness, thereby enhancing one's capacity to relate to one's self, one's environment and other people in a more fulfilling fashion. There are very many theories about how psychotherapy should be practiced. All are valuable. In my work I start from a fairly psychoanalytic stance, but will include family systems and Gestalt approaches too.

People new to psychotherapy, whether in individual, group or couples psychotherapy, often begin their sessions with some confusion about the value of staying with emotions rather than focusing on concrete problem solving. Although problem solving has its place in psychotherapy, the bulk of session work really should be about feelings. This is because feelings profoundly affect the decisions we human beings make, even if we think we're making purely rational, non-emotional determinations.

Feelings affect the way we approach romantic/sexual relationships, the way we handle conflicts, the way we relate to family, the way we approach authority figures and even the way we define ourselves. If we don't understand our fuller emotional selves, much of our living is done out of sight and unexamined. Destructive patterns we may have developed over time can go unchanged, despite our frustration, or even despair. So, psychotherapy, whether for individuals, groups or couples, is about laying the emotional groundwork for us to make real and lasting life changes, rather than just helping us get by the problem of the moment.