WHAT I DO . . .
I provide in depth talk therapy to individuals and couples dealing with depression, anxiety, loneliness, grief, relationship issues, career concerns, trauma, and identity development. As a psychoanalytically oriented therapist, I feel I am most specialized in helping those I treat with what Christopher Bollas (a renowned psychoanalyst) refers to as the Unthought Known – those intimately familiar yet too elusive to comprehend patterns that inhibit our beings in ways exquisitely unique to each of us. It is my belief that our work together in learning more about these ingrained underlying “loops” (in an environment where you feel safe, nurtured, and free of judgment) has the potential to provide peace, present solutions, and produce change.
A THERAPEUTIC ART . . .
With an extensive background in the arts, I also believe in the power of collaboration and creativity as I help guide individuals to find the patterns, themes, and meanings of their histories, identities, and dreams. One of my favorite authors, Samuel Beckett, once wrote, “To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.” For me, talk therapy/psychoanalysis became the form that best accommodates “the mess” I spent so many years exploring as an actor and performance artist. The way I work does not employ a given artistic medium to do therapy, but uses the nimble process of talk therapy/psychoanalysis to explore the thoughts, feelings, and underlying dynamics that drive the unique and creative ways we each strive to accommodate “the mess.”
TRAINING/EDUCATION…
Over twenty years ago I earned an MFA in Professional Acting from Ohio University and came to Chicago to act in and produce theatre. For a number of years I also managed a performance space/art gallery producing original plays, performance art, and video installations. I also co-owned two video production companies creating commercials, corporate videos, and short documentaries.
In the midst of those years entrenched in the art and video production communities of Chicago, I underwent my own psychoanalytically oriented course of therapy and found it to be profoundly life changing. I also discovered that the psychoanalytic tradition felt like a natural continuation of my interests in art, literature, the performing arts, anthropology, social issues, philosophy, and poetry. And so I completed a Master of Arts in Counseling from the Family Institute at Northwestern University and now draw from the rich tradition of psychodynamic and Integrative approaches taught there. Since then I have completed a two-year fellowship as a clinician treating individuals at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute (CPI) where I also completed a year long training (in conjunction with the Institute for Clinical Social Work) in Integrative Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy. I am currently a candidate in CPI’s psychoanalytic training program seeking certification to provide psychoanalysis.
CULTURAL HUMILITY…
Though my profession admirably strives for cultural competence, I adhere to the concept of cultural humility. My training and experience has provided me the opportunity to increase my expertise in working with a wide variety of identities, however, there is no amount of knowledge and experience that can completely prepare me for the unique identity an individual walks into the room with. And as I work with a person, I learn about all of the ways an identity or identities can express themselves or emerge. For this reason, I will work from a place of compassion, curiosity, and modesty in an attempt to increase my competence in working with the unique blend of culture, history, pain, passion, vulnerability, and strength that’s coalesced within the individuals I work with.