I have worked for 25 years as a LICSW. The first ten years I did EAP work (giving me training in short-term therapy and in high-risk clinical situations). The last 15 have been in private practice; I specialized in eating disorders (bulimia and binge eating) and have expanded my practice to those struggling with alcohol abuse and general life issues - grief, relationship issues, difficulty asserting oneself in relationships.
I took a three-year training in existential therapy from The New England Center for Existential Therapy. That training helped me organize and understand client's repeated pain patterns - whether in relationships, jobs or with self-destructive behaviors - eating disorders, alcohol misuse. I build in a lot of the newer theoretical frameworks, IFS, Neuroscience, DBT to help clients make changes. It is one thing to have an understanding of our pain, but the real freedom is in responding differently to it.
I try not to make the first session very formal. I review the paperwork, and I like to hear what brought someone to therapy - an event and/or sick of feeling a certain way. I then talk about ideas for people to manage their problems rather than being managed by them.
