Vital Signs Psychotherapy

I draw on a variety of approaches in my work, catered to the needs and desires of my clients. Here are some basic details about the primary modalities I draw on.

• Psychodynamic: Psychodynamic approaches are largely about exploring the forces - unconscious and conscious - that shape our lives. Expanding on psychoanalysis, they emphasize what unfolds within the therapeutic relationship as a window into our ways of relating to ourselves, one another, and the world. In doing so, they enable us to gain insight about and 'work through' the patterns which restrict us and keep us stuck.

• Person-centered: Person-centered modalities are all about creating a mutual and supportive relational space which effectively empower you to come to a greater understanding of yourself and actualize into expansive ways of being. Key to this approach are a centering of the client's needs and desires, a mutual relationship where the therapist's 'authority' is de-emphasized, and a focus on relational depth which fosters growth and exploration.

• Liberation Psychology: Drawing on the theories of anti-colonial thinkers like Ignacio Martin-Baro, Paolo Freire, and Frantz Fanon, Liberation Psychology offers a critical approach which goes beyond the reductionism characteristic of much of 'Western' psychology, exploring how we are fundamentally shaped as personal, social, and political beings, drawing connections between each to offer an emancipatory vision of psychological work.

• Queer Therapy: Growing from decades of work across queer theory and philosophy, Queer Therapy approaches are focused on creating affirmative, non-normative, and anti-oppressive spaces which enable us to deeply explore ourselves and our relationships to others and the world. Part of this often involves deconstructing rigid social constructs around gender, sexuality, race, and identity which might restrict us.