While my practice focus is relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy, a depth-oriented form of treatment that explores how our past experiences shape us, this treatment modality also emphasizes our present day experiences in the world. Today, our experience is rapidly changing in response to the global public health crisis, COVID-19. We are all navigating new terrain as we come to understand the far-reaching affects of this pandemic and how our previous sense of normalcy has been upended, including psychotherapy.
My approach to psychotherapy has always integrated present day experiences with our experience of the past. Sometimes it’s easy to see how the present is immediately affecting us; often it’s what motivates us to reach out for help right now. COVID-19 is suddenly and drastically changing our global experience right now. Therapy can help you navigate these changes and the feelings they might provoke—anger, anxiety, angst, confusion, despair, fear, grief, and uncertainty are feelings we are navigating in the midst of this pandemic. However, a depth-oriented approach will also seek to understand your personal experience of the world, including COVID-19, and wonder how your unique experiences (including those of the past) are intertwined with how you are coping and being affected today. This is how the past and present commingle with one another, in constant a constant feedback loop worthy of curiosity, exploration, and deeper understanding.
