“The most important consideration of good therapy is whether there is rapport between the client and therapist.”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
People always sought me out to share their deepest concerns. I started reading Freud when I was sixteen and found it so compelling. Although my first jobs were working with children in child welfare, I felt I could make more of a difference by working directly with people. My early experiences were with children who had been sexually abused, adults who had been abused, and others who had experienced traumatic early-life events.
What should someone know about working with you?
The most important consideration of good therapy is whether there is rapport between the client and therapist. Since trust is one of the most important aspects of all relationships, it needs to be felt by the client; I work with your goals, not mine. I love the diversity of New York City and am comfortable with clients from all walks of life.
What do you do to continue learning and building competencies as a provider?
It is important to stay current with what is available as medication as an adjunct to therapy, so I review my knowledge of psychopharmacology periodically. I also stay in touch with research as it relates to various modalities of treatment; I am open to new approaches if the research supports those approaches. I work in collaboration with the general practitioners or internists who see my clients, as well as the psychiatrists who might be medicating my clients.
How do your own core values shape your approach to therapy?
I grew up in a poor and ethnically-diverse neighborhood. I believe that experience made me more sensitive to the effects of poverty and racism on people.
“Since trust is one of the most important aspects of all relationships, it needs to be felt by the client; I work with your goals, not mine.”