Dr. Kevin Anderson

I am often a good fit for clients who want to integrate a spiritual perspective into therapy. By spiritual I mean living authentically, practicing mindfulness and radical acceptance, finding deep purpose, forgiving oneself and others, having compassion for yourself and others in the face of life's inevitable challenges, and seeing the sacred in the ordinary. I work with people of different faiths and those with no particular belief. I mix creativity, humor, and metaphors into therapy and encourage "daily practice for the rest of your life" to keep growth going long after therapy concludes.

I call my approach "three rivers" (my internship was in Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers flow together to form the Ohio River). One river is the best of scientific knowledge about what helps people. The other is the whole human condition: matters of meaning, purpose, spirituality, love, and suffering that are not covered by diagnostic categories. We will allow these two rivers to flow together into a third that includes them both.

Count on me to be welcoming, real, engaged, empathic, honest, and sometimes challenging as we explore what brought you in. I'll ground my work in encouraging your innate goodness (true self) even as we work on problems.

I work with people on stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, marriage/relationships, sexuality, addiction, work, spirituality, and much more.

I start by just getting to know you a bit. Before diving into what's feeling difficult for you, I spend a few minutes learning about what activities you enjoy in life when you have time and energy for them.

My main goal in a first session is to listen to what led you to reach out for help. We won't cover it all it the first meeting, but I'll try to get a pretty good overview.

I also try to save some time to give you an idea of how I might approach your challenges if you choose to meet with me beyond the first meeting. I think people deserve some sense of how a therapist might proceed so they can decide if they want to continue meeting. (Most people don't like a first meeting to conclude with, "Whoops, we're out of time!")