There are many schools of thought and many techniques for shaping the counseling process, but it is fundamentally a relationship between client and therapist, with the client’s growth and healing as its purpose.

In my work with clients, you are the authority in your own life. My role is to help you figure out what is working in your life, what is not working, what can change, and how to make change. But I recognize that you are the one who must shape your life through your decisions. I am privileged to know you, but the choices are yours.

We meet regularly to talk about you and the things you have on your mind. We explore your relationships, your values, your experiences in family, your identity, your work and career experiences, and where you would like to go with your life.

It can be a matter of a few sessions or a few months, or even longer. Timing depends in part on the kind of problem we are working on, in part on your style of decision making, and in part on the time you have to give to therapy.

For some clients, even a single session is enough to give them what they need. Likely those people were close to making a decision already. For others, a few well-focused discussions with a therapist take them to the clarity they were seeking. And for still others, therapy becomes an opportunity to explore and discuss many aspects of their lives, a safe place to take important but sometimes slow steps to growth, change, and healing.

Most clients start out coming once a week until the therapeutic relationship is well established. Then weekly, biweekly, or eventually even monthly sessions are effective, depending upon clients’ needs. For clients with persistent life problems or major mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, I provide continuing psychotherapy, often for a year or more.