• Individual treatment for depression, anxiety, substance abuse and other life problems
• Couples Therapy
• Child and Adolescent therapy for problems with: behavior, depression, anxiety, ADHD

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
• Low motivation or energy
• Sleep problems
• Loss of interest in activities normally found pleasurable
• Change of eating habits, with either weight loss or weight gain
• Negative thinking, pessimism
• Increased irritability
• Decreased patience
• Thoughts of ending one’s life
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain.

The good news is that depression is very treatable. Depression is often experienced as a problem of hopelessness or helplessness. Depressed people feel stuck and powerless. Often times just the act of seeking help can begin to alleviate depression, as people begin to see there could be new options for themselves. Therapy for depression may include: Identifying situations or factors contributing to depression Recognizing and learning to change negative thinking Returning to/or learning new behaviors that can break the cycle of depression Learning interpersonal skills that increase social support and decrease conflict For some, getting consultation for the use of medication to help depression

Anxiety
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, close to 19 million Americans suffer from anxiety symptoms. Anxiety symptoms may include:

• High levels of tension or nervousness
• Physical symptoms like: rapid heartbeat, rapid shallow breathing, sweating, shakiness, tightness or possibly pains in the chest, occasionally stomach or digestive problems
• Thoughts that something terrible is happening or going to happen
• Feelings of fear or at times anger
• In some cases these fears may lead to restricting activities like going out, driving, being in public places, etc.

• Identifying precipitants to anxiety
• Learning strategies to reduce the physical symptoms
• Learning how to take steps to counter the fears associated to anxiety
• Managing the catastrophic thinking that often accompanies anxiety
• As with depression, at times seeking consultation for medications that can help
  

Couples Therapy Once the honeymoon is over, couples then have to learn to live with each other. Over time couples often start taking each other for granted. What might have once been seen as an interesting quirk is now an annoying habit.

Couples begin to look more and more to their partners to meet their needs and longings, often without making this explicit. Add children, extended family, remarriage- and the whole situation can become very complicated. It has been my experience that couples who do not learn to pull together often pull apart.  

Help for Couples

Couples therapy can help:

• Improve communication
• Identify and alter destructive cycles of interaction
• Help clarify and negotiate important goals
• Recover from the pain of an extramarital affair
• Improve parenting

• Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking? 
• Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? 
• Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking? 
• Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

• Have trouble having satisfying relationships
• Feel blocked in their efforts to achieve important goals
• Struggle to come to terms with prior hurt or pain in their lives
  

Psychotherapy can be a very useful way to help unlock factors that keep people stuck in unsatisfying life situations. In a confidential, supportive setting people can come to new understandings of themselves that can help them break out of old patterns. They can begin to heal old wounds and learn how to move on in their lives. 

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Child and Family Parents and children face many difficulties. For parents, it may be balancing work and home or helping their children grow and develop in an increasingly complex  society. Children are faced with the demands of school, fitting in with their peers, and stresses and strains in the family with divorce or remarriage. In addition, just like adults, children face issues of depression and anxiety.

Adolescence

Psychotherapy can play a critical role in helping adolescents as they negotiate these difficult issues. Families also need support as they try to help their adolescent.

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