Food For Thought



Here are a few thoughts about psychoanalytic therapy - how it works, why it's helpful, how it differs from other forms of therapy, etc. I update this page periodically, offering new tidbits to consider.

"We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are."

The Talmud




Growth and change is something we all desire... and fear. Closeness and intimacy are also things we both desire and fear. Therapy addresses these conflicts.


The problems that often bring people to therapy - troubling symptoms, problematic behaviors and recurring problems in relationships - happen because there is something going on in you that isn't available to be thought about or felt. This is what is meant by Unconscious. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy brings what is unconscious into conscious awareness, where it can be understood and dealt with.



When working with young children, I use play and art to access the unconscious feelings and thoughts that are causing difficulties. With adults, we "play" with the thoughts, feelings and dreams that are brought to the therapy hour.



Psychoanalytic therapy can unleash creative potential in an individual. Psychotherapy promotes connections between conscious and unconscious areas of the mind, opening up creative potential.


Recent discoveries in brain research show how important interpersonal (brain-to-brain, mind-to-mind) interactions are in brain development. Psychoanalytic therapy is a deeply interpersonal form of therapy that has a direct impact on the mind in the same way that early development is impacted by brain-to-brain interactions.




The ability to tolerate doubt, frustration and uncertainty is a developmental achievement.