“My 23 years of experience with a wide range of issues has shown me that many aspects of human suffering that are considered genetic, permanent, and unchangeable are actually changeable!”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
Since I was a child, people have always asked me to help them with their problems. In college, I accidentally helped a suicidal stranger choose not to kill himself by simply talking with him. I was disturbed that I had no idea how I had been successful! I decided that I needed much more training in helping people. Now 23 years later, I am still learning new ways to help people help themselves.
What should someone know about working with you?
My main maxim is that it does not have to be this way! My 23 years of experience with a wide range of issues has shown me that many aspects of human suffering that are considered genetic, permanent, and unchangeable are actually changeable! However, lasting change is only possible through the difficult work of allowing yourself to feel and release very unpleasant feelings you have avoided because they are so unpleasant. Helping you learn how to change yourself without my help is my ultimate goal!
Have you done any research-based work that you found particularly exciting? How does it inform your practice today?
After witnessing clients (especially children) suffer the dangerous effects of prescription medications, I focused my doctoral research on the flawed and corrupt nature of the FDA drug approval process. This exposed the lack of scientific evidence supporting existing assumptions concerning the safety and effectiveness of drugs prescribed for psychological distress and the validity of the genetic medical model of mental illness supporting their use. My results led me to practice somatic therapy and establish Full Spectrum Progressive Psychology, the first and still only medication-free somatic intensive outpatient clinic in the world. I have also become one of the few people trained to help clients reduce, discontinue, or avoid dependence on psychotropic medications.
“However, lasting change is only possible through the difficult work of allowing yourself to feel and release very unpleasant feelings you have avoided because they are so unpleasant.”