The Intimate Hour (Part I)

The process of psychotherapy is as different as each therapist-patient combination. The chemistry between patient and therapist is undeniable and plays a key role in the process. My approach has been to address each patient as an unfolding life story, with its own unique narrative, and not as a diagnostic exemplar. As we work together, I listen for and identify recurrent themes, with their moments of triumph, as well as depths of despair; with their areas of strength and resilience, and their places of weakness and flagging hope.

As a therapist, my job is to assist the patient in writing a new chapter in his narrative. Perhaps his past has been marked by repeated failures at valued tasks. Perhaps her undertakings in life have been tinged by fear and self-doubt. The therapist is a companion on the patient's journey of self-discovery and healing.

As the companion on the patient's journey, I look at the elements of the patient's life as the pieces of glass in a kaleidoscope. When the kaleidoscope is held in one way, one picture emerges. However, when the patient rotates the kaleidoscope, a different picture comes into view. And with that different picture come new possibilities. New ways of understanding what has gone before in one's life and what could lie ahead. And this is where the therapist brings her experience and psychotherapeutic tools to bear.