Individual Therapy in Boston
Weekly psychotherapy with a 25-year trauma specialist — for the sustained relational work that change actually requires
Weekly Psychotherapy: The Long Work
Weekly psychotherapy is what most of us mean when we say “therapy.” A standing time, a consistent relationship, a slow building of trust and understanding over months and years. For some clinical problems, this is the form of treatment that works. The depth of the relationship is the medicine.
Material that moves quickly in shorter formats — a pattern you can see clearly, a trauma with a defined edge — is different from material that emerges slowly: how you’ve organized yourself around early experiences, the patterns that run beneath what you can name, the shifts in identity and meaning that take time to integrate. Most of my practice is this kind of work. Weekly therapy with adults who are looking for more than relief from a current crisis — though we will certainly attend to crises when they arise — and who are willing to commit to the slower, deeper work of becoming someone different than they were when they started.
Weekly psychotherapy fits a particular kind of client. Not every prospect should be in this format, and being honest about that matters more than filling a caseload.
This format is most appropriate for: • Adults working with long-standing patterns — attachment difficulties, relational repetition, identity confusion, depression or anxiety that has resisted shorter approaches •. Therapy veterans whose previous work helped but didn’t reach the deeper layer they’re aware of now • Clients new to therapy who are seeking a sustained relationship rather than a brief intervention • People who want to understand themselves more fully, not only to feel better • Clients for whom the trauma material is layered, complex, or interwoven with broader identity questions
It is less appropriate for clients who want focused, time-limited work on a single defined issue — in those cases, an EMDR intensive or short-term work with another provider may serve better. It is also not appropriate as a substitute for crisis services, active substance abuse treatment, or psychiatric medication management. If you are not sure which format fits your situation, that is exactly the conversation a phone consultation is for.
Is This the Right Format?
A Psychodynamic and Relational Approach
My approach is grounded in psychodynamic and relational practice. The core idea is that we are our experiences — that the strategies and patterns we developed early in life, often before we had language for what was happening, outlive their original usefulness and continue to run in the background of adult life. The work is to make those strategies visible, understand them with both the mind and the body, and gradually develop the capacity to choose differently.
This means our work together will not be primarily about techniques, exercises, or homework — though those can be useful in particular moments. It will be about a relationship: what you bring into the room, what gets reenacted between us, what you learn about yourself through being known by another person, and what becomes possible when material that has stayed hidden can be brought into the open. When trauma is present — and it often is, even when it isn’t the presenting problem — I draw on EMDR to work directly with what understanding alone can’t shift. For some clients, we add an intensive to accelerate work on a specific area. For others, KAP becomes part of the work when the standard approaches have reached their limit. These adjuncts serve the ongoing therapy; they don’t replace it.
Are You Unsure?
How can you possibly know if therapy is right for you when you feel this way? It is never easy to ask for help – to be seen authentically. But I do know that…
The first few sessions are about figuring out whether this is the right fit — for both of us. We will talk about what brought you to therapy, what you have tried before, what you hope for, and what you are afraid of. You will get a sense of how I work and whether the way I think about your difficulties is the way you want them thought about. I will get a sense of whether I am the right clinician for what you are carrying.
If we agree to continue, we will establish a regular meeting time and begin the longer work. I maintain a flexible schedule to accommodate busy professionals. Sessions are 50 minutes, typically weekly. Some clients move to twice-weekly when the depth of the work calls for it. Telehealth is available through a HIPAA-compliant platform, and in-office sessions are held at 185 Devonshire Street in downtown Boston. Most clients use some combination of both formats over time. I am careful not to overpromise outcomes. Therapy is real work, and the people who benefit most are those who treat it as such. I will be honest with you about what I see, what I think we can address, and what might require a different approach. If at some point it becomes clear that another clinician or format would serve you better, I will say so.
The First Sessions, and the Long Arc
Considering Weekly Therapy?
If you’re considering therapy, I offer a free 20-minute phone consultation. The call is a clinical conversation--
We’ll talk briefly about what’s bringing you in and whether weekly work with me seems like a fit. If it isn’t, I’ll do my best to point you toward someone or something that would be.