I provide an integrationist approach to therapy. Bruce Lee was an integrationalist. He combined what he felt were the best elements of Kung Fu, wing chung, American boxing, and other martial forms into a comprehensive fighting style. These weren’t just thrown together but followed a cohesive underlying set of theories and principles. Now, while I am certainly not Bruce Lee, that philosophy is representative of my approach; to combine some of the best elements of behaviorism, psychodynamics, developmental theory and mindfulness based practices into a cohesive and pragmatic approach toward helping individuals face difficult life challenges and emotional/behavioral symptoms. This integrationalist system has been developed over the course of many years of practice and I refer to it as Integrative Mindful Exposure. This model is drawn from empirically derived psychological models of human learning, conditioning, development and psychology.
A primary tenet of my approach is the understanding that much of human suffering and even many psychiatric symptoms arise from our very attempts to control and avoid the so-called “dark emotions”. Powerful emotions and the situations/events that give rise to them are often not the problem per se, or an issue to control, but in fact a possible invitation for growth. By learning skills and approaches to more directly face our fears, angers, shames, guilt, and losses, individuals can experience not only symptomatic reduction, but also develop a sense of empowerment and personal freedom and a greater understanding of how to view and approach all of life’s challenges.
I employ his model, combined with other cognitive/behavioral approaches to help individuals to address a variety of medical/health issues ranging from hypertension, diabetes, chronic pain and fibromyalgia, sleep disorders, headaches, sexual dysfunctions and eating disorders. I also assist people who are learning to live with chronic or progressive disease processes including lupus, MS, Parkinson’s disease and cancer.
