Why Enter Psychotherapy?

Each of us is born with a particular set of traits - strengths and weaknesses that are further shaped by the situations and families we are born into. We adapt 

as best as we can to that particular system and those adaptations we use most heavily become the template for who we think we are and what we are able to do… usually referred to as the ego. 

At some point in our lives, almost all of us realize we are more than that ego. And we may find it is no longer working for us. It is at that point we may realize we need someone to talk to.  Sooner or later life hands us some situation or problem we cannot or do not know how to deal with. Most of us are afraid of change and for the most part avoid it - sometimes at great cost to ourselves and those around us. Resistance, or refusal to acknowledge or face the need to change, is often our first response to fear of change. Fear arises when we do not know how to access the parts of us we need to engage with life differently or are facing a new life stage or challenge and don't know how to move through it. 

In the thirty-five years I have been practicing, it has become increasingly clear to me that most of the difficulties and symptoms people face in their personal and professional lives emerge when there is a crisis stemming from an imbalance or unrecognized need in their lives which needs to be faced. 

A large portion of my clients enter therapy later in life because they feel that their lives and/or relationships have become too small for them or have grown stale and meaningless. We may find ourselves alone, unable to find or maintain a healthy and satisfying relationship. If any of these difficulties go on long enough we may encounter psychological and emotional problems or stagnation. This is the point where we may consider psychotherapy, engaging in a deep, consistent and confidential conversation with a therapist in order to move forward and embrace the changes life is asking us to face.