Tibor Baukal

I am a highly experienced therapist who has worked in every setting and level of care, from highly restrictive environments, such as hospitals and residential settings, to community-based and outpatient settings. I have worked with children and families, with adolescents and adults, men and women, cisgendered and transgendered, with those struggling with substance abuse, trauma, loss, depression, anxiety, and relationship problems. My education and training have led me to understand that those who seek professional help are situated in a relational context, one born out of their experiences growing up, as well as their current interpersonal dynamics. In my experience, people often come into therapy when they are stuck between repeating behaviors that are unhelpful or even dangerous, and not knowing what to do differently, or even how to make a change in their lives, despite knowing that they don't want to keep doing what they are doing. That is when someone like myself meets someone like yourself, and we work together to find a new path forward.

My approach can be described in a few words. I practice systemic therapy with an integrative approach to the particular situation at hand. Systemic therapy means that I look at the individual as secondary to their larger context, and that the individual is part of many overlapping and intersecting systems. We are all born into families that are part of larger groups and experiences that have their own rules and stories about how they came to be. Therapy should be integrative, meaning that instead of a piecemeal or an eclectic approach, where the therapist does a little bit of this and a little bit of that, there needs to be a clinical rationale grounded in theory and practice, so that we can explain what we are doing and why. There are so many treatment models and methodologies that have been developed over the past century, that what is often lost is the importance of the therapeutic relationship, and of developing a plan of care that speaks to the unique needs of the person, couple or family that is seeking help. The most helpful thing that I learned in my training was that while I may be an expert on therapy, I am not an expert on your life, and my first job is to listen.

During the first session, I will work with you to understand what brought you to therapy and how I can best help you achieve your goals. I will ask you about past experiences with therapy, what was helpful, and what was not helpful. If this is your first time in therapy, we will spend time talking about what specifically happens during a therapy session, and the difference between what we do together during that time and any other conversations you may have. I will ask you about what happened recently to you, and work to identify patterns in your life, your work, your relationships, your family, and in your broader context as you define it. That may include how you understand yourself in terms of your identity broadly considered. My overall goal during the first session is for us to get to know each other and to begin to establish a working relationship, not labeling you or diagnosing you.