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Cornerstones
of Effective Psychotherapy ...Confidentiality:
At
a most basic level, psychotherapy provides a space of
privacy where it becomes possible to open doors to
emotions, traumas, and thought processes that may have
been kept secret or suppressed for years. In order
for healing to begin, the patient must feel secure that
what develops in the psychotherapy will be held in
confidence by the therapist. I am ethically and
legally bound to keep your information private. In
the rare incidences where the law requires disclosure,
there must be clear and present indications that your
safety or the safety of others is at risk. It may
also be of help to contact your physician or other
healthcare providers with whom you might be
working. In these cases, consultation would only
be done with full disclosure to you, and with your
written consent. |
| ...Safety:
In
order for psychotherapy to be effective, the
patient must feel safe. The process of
building safety moves forward in many
ways. A sense of being heard and
understood, and a feeling of being respected and
protected by reasonable boundaries, are
essential in this process. The therapist
must also convey his understanding of your
uniqueness and work actively with you to
determine your individual treatment goals and
the path to achieve these goals.
...Structure:
A
safe, secure psychotherapy structure includes
regularly scheduled appointments.
Effective psychotherapy may proceed toward goals
for months or sometimes years. However long the
therapy, the structure supports the appreciation
of the financial and time commitment being made
to this healing process. It is also
helpful if the therapy office environment is
quiet and visually appealing. |
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| ...Competence:
The
therapist has the obligation to provide the
patient with the highest quality treatment
possible. Not to minimize the importance
of a psychological "fit" with your
therapist, the patient should expect the
therapist to be well-trained and current in
emerging treatment processes. To that end,
I am committed to on-going consultation,
supervision, and individual study. Most
recently, I was a four-year student with the
Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis,
Northern California Branch.
...Humility:
It
takes a great deal of courage to make the
decision to enter psychotherapy and begin the
process of self-inspection. That decision
might come from a personal or family crisis, a
persistent depression, an unmanageable level of
anxiety, or an addictive behavior pattern.
Whatever the source of the motivation, the
patient is faced with the challenge of
disclosing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
which might be shrouded in shame, guilt, and
fear. Though this disclosure is essential
to healing, the therapist must demonstrate his
own humility at the magnitude of this
task. Perhaps this is why a qualified
therapist must know first-hand what it is like
to be a patient. |
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