My professional background
I graduated from Northwestern University with my Ph.D., in clinical psychology in 1989. I joined a medical and mental health practice in Austin, where I remained for three years before setting out in private practice with close colleagues. After many satisfying years in the Austin area, I decided to move to New Mexico in 2012, so that I could better pursue my interests in outdoor activities and photography. At that time, I joined a small group of three other clinicians, where I remained until the onset of COVID. Currently, I work via Zoom out of my home office..
Changes in my practice due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, I was already working with about 50% of my clients via the internet. With the advent of the Governor's shutdown order, I moved all of my psychotherapy sessions online, using the secure, HIPAA-compliant platform I had been using for the past 8 years with clients from both Texas and New Mexico.
It came as somewhat of a surprise that many, if not most, of my patients expressed a preference for virtual sessions. This was because it allowed them both to avoid a trek across town to my professional office and to enjoy the comfort and convenience of therapy from their home.
In a similar fashion, I realized that I, too, preferred working over the internet from my home office because it allowed me more time and to avoid weather and traffic problems. Even more, I felt that the psychotherapy sessions I had with clients were more relaxed, and that people seemed to be more forthcoming about their psychological concerns. Therefore, I decided that I would continue, after society "opened up," to focus on providing virtual therapy via secure videoconferencing to clients where it was an appropriate modality of treatment.
My therapy style and areas of special interest and expertise.
I believe that choosing a psychotherapist is a very important decision, and that it is essential for the client to find someone they feel has the best interpersonal style and training to work with them. When possible, I encourage potential therapy clients to meet with, or at least interview by phone, several different therapists before choosing the one they will work with. This is important because the quality of the therapist-client relationship is critical to the effectiveness of psychotherapy.
My style is active and engaged, employing interpretation (connecting feelings, thoughts, and behaviors to past and current events), confrontation (pointing out discrepancies between the client's goals and their actions), and education (recommending books, giving homework, or explaining relevant research findings). I encourage the client to keep me informed about how they are reacting to the therapy process so that we can work collaboratively to proceed in the desired direction. At times, psychotherapy can be difficult, even painful, work; thus, it is crucial that the client feels that there is an open relationship where concerns can be addressed. Ultimately, the goal of all therapy is to improve the quality of interpersonal relationships, increase the capacity to be productive in daily life, enhance self-care, and heighten the ability to make choices that lead to increased satisfaction in life.
In addition to treating depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, I have expertise in doing psychotherapy with patients with self-disorders, people who are in crisis due to impending legal actions, people who have apparently intractable mood or personality disorders, and young adults who seem to have become "stuck" somewhere in the maturational process and could be described as manifesting a "Failure to Launch". I also have an interest in working with clients who have had prior treatment that proved ineffective.
If you or someone you know may have these issues, we can set up an initial diagnostic evaluation session to talk about what directions are available to address these kinds of problems. The initial session is NOT a commitment to engage in therapy on either the part of the client or therapist: it is a time to gather information and for the therapist to make recommendations which may or may not be consistent with what the patient has in mind. We can then decide together whether venturing into a trial of psychotherapy is the right plan for that person.