Our Approach:

Why does this matter?

If you met 100 therapists, you would experience 100 different ways of doing therapy.  Some therapists are focused on helping you find immediate solutions to challenges you’re experiencing. Others are focused on helping you shift your thoughts, and some focus on instructing you to change your daily habits in order to improve your mood.  There are many different ways to heal!

Here are some values we share that guide our work with clients of all ages:

Attachment-based and Relational:

This means that throughout the therapeutic process we focus on the impact of your earliest life experiences (with family, peers, and others) and how they influence your current life challenges.  We believe that on the deepest, most basic (and also most profound) level, what we are all searching for is a deep sense of connection, to be understood, and to be seen and known for who we authentically are.  We believe that many of our current challenges stem from the ways we have (often unconsciously) learned to adapt to our environment in order to stay in connection with others.  If we learned that to express vulnerability results in being ignored or met with criticism, we may shut ourselves off to our own needs, struggle to identify what we want, or feel a persistent sense of anxiety related to intimacy within relationships.

We get curious about how relational patterns show up within our therapeutic relationship.  Is it easy to be open and vulnerable or do you prefer to talk about less vulnerable topics? What emotions and patterns arise in response to anger, disappointment, love? Is it easy to feel comfortable in close relationships? Do you prefer to keep your cards close and take care of your needs on your own? Do you fear that others will reject you? We together explore the ways our interactions can, over time, illuminate the strengths and challenges you experience in other relationships.  By asking these questions and observing patterns with a consistent stance of compassion and curiosity, we can begin to uncover knowledge that can lead to more satisfying relationships of all sorts.

Emotionally-focused and Experiential:

Rather than focusing on changing thoughts or behaviors, we gently guide clients to explore the ways emotions manifest in the body and the stories they hold. This may look like feeling a dropping feeling of fear in your stomach or holding anger in clenched fists.  We guide clients to get curious about the stories their bodies are holding and to *stay with* emotions that arise rather than shifting back into story-telling or analyzing thoughts. While there is a time and purpose for challenging thoughts and analyzing situations, we gently guide clients to focus on the emotions that arise *when* sharing experiences.  This often helps us to uncover unconscious/implicit beliefs we are holding which impact how we go about our lives and relationships and can often fuel ongoing pain. We believe that anxiety, guilt, and shame are often inhibitory emotions that prevent/protect us from feeling our core emotions (of anger, sadness, fear, joy, disgust, and excitement) and that much relief and the feeling of being authentic comes from feeling safe enough to experience our core emotions.

Trauma-informed:

This means that, as therapists who specialize in trauma in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we hold a deep understanding of the ways in which various traumatic experiences, from witnessing domestic violence as a child to sexual assault to poverty (just to name a few), influence patterns of behavior and interpersonal interaction throughout life.  This means we believe that *every single* behavior is adaptive, even if it causes hurt to oneself or others.  This means that we deeply, profoundly believe that there is nothing wrong with you and that it is more important and productive to explore how your experiences have shaped you and the ways in which you have learned to adapt, in order to be able to live life more fully in the present.