Adults
Individual therapy focuses on the needs of the adult individual. It is a collaborative process in which client and therapist work together to develop treatment goals that they approach at a pace and in a manner that works for the client. While addressing the issues with which a client presents, underlying issues sometimes require a client to explore the client’s relationships with self and others, providing the client with a context for making lasting change. Whether focusing on one’s emotional state, beliefs, or behaviors, individual therapy explores how to resolve, repair, and move forward. Joel’s approach to individual therapy is psychodynamic, meaning that he helps clients explore the meaning they attach to their experiences, both past and present. The goal is to help the client develop awareness as to how current circumstances may have developed from repeated patterns established early on. It then focuses on how to help change patterns that were once useful, but may now be an impediment to growth. Joel’s approach is also eclectic in that he incorporates cognitive behavioral, somatic, narrative, and other therapeutic approaches to help clients reach their goals as quickly and comfortably as possible and in the ways most effective for any given client.
Children and Adolescents
Child and adolescent therapy focuses on the needs of the child or teen, often within the family context. It offers children and teens a safe space to explore thoughts and feelings without fear of conflict or repercussion. It typically requires parental or family involvement, though the level to which parents and family are included often depend on the age of the client, the level of autonomy needed, and treatment goals. Joel holds confidentiality sacrosanct and maintains the confidentiality of his minor clients just as he does his adult clients. His rule of thumb is “what is said in the room stays in the room.” He discusses confidentiality at the outset of therapy so that all have a clear understanding of how a minor’s privacy is maintained. While the purpose of child and adolescent therapy is ultimately to help children and teens resolve the issues that bring them to therapy, the underlying goal is to provide the skills needed to ensure optimal development and a smoother road to adulthood.
Couples
Couples therapy provides a safe and non-judgmental space for couples to explore, work through, and resolve challenges in their relationship. Some challenges are able to be identified at the outset of therapy, though underlying issues are often identified and addressed as therapy progresses. Though issues in couples therapy may range from impoverished communication to infidelity, most issues are rooted in a couple’s challenges with intimacy and the capacity to feel safe in the full expression of thoughts and feelings. Joel’s approach to couple’s therapy is both explorative and direct in that he helps couples identify and express their wants, needs and feelings, while making recommendations to help couples better communicate in creating understandings that honor the sanctity of their relationship.
Families
Family therapy helps families identify underlying issues and patterns that strain relationships within the family. Its goal is to help families work together to create a healthier, happier, and more satisfying family experience. Joel uses a systems approach in identifying roles that have been established within the family and the underlying mechanisms at play that have lead to dysfunction. His approach is somewhat unique in that he does not always meet with the whole family, but looks at various relationships within the family and makes determinations as to which individuals or relationships need to be strengthened to support the family as a whole. As with individual and couples therapy, family therapy offers families a safe and non-judgmental space to discuss thoughts and feelings. It also gives family members an opportunity to see that the thoughts and feelings of other family members need not match their own and that the greatest chance of creating familial harmony lies in each family member feeling seen, heard, and understood by the family as a whole.
Divorcing Couples and Families
Whether choosing therapy to create more amicable endings, help families understand the divorce process and the impact it will have, or help children and parents adapt to and continue to thrive while a family’s structure changes, working with divorce - especially high-conflict divorce - requires special care and training. While empathetic, Joel’s approach is direct. He addresses the psycho-education of child development, the structure needed to support that development, and the empathy and emotional responsiveness needed to keep that support in place. His experience as an attorney helps him empathize with the struggles of divorcing families while providing a context for understanding the challenges that may be encountered in both the divorce and therapy process. Though there are often others, a common goal of working with divorce is to provide a safe place for children and parents to identify and verbalize thoughts and feelings, to assist parents in making and feeling secure in their decisions, and to scaffold and advocate for children in responding to their parents’ choices.
Trauma Survivors
Working with trauma requires special sensitivities and understanding. While the goal of trauma therapy is often thought of as returning the survivor to the state of wellness in place prior to a traumatic event, trauma therapy is often much more complex. More often than not traumatic events in childhood have followed individuals into adulthood, resulting in trauma in adulthood triggering earlier trauma. In other words, adults attempting to recover from unresolved childhood trauma are having to heal developmental wounds while simultaneously addressing the wounds that bring them to therapy. Developmental wounds often alter nervous system functioning in response to threat or perceived threat. They can also leave the survivor feeling defective or thinking the world is unsafe, both of which can prevent an individual from thriving. Joel’s approach to trauma is client-centered and strength-based. He recognizes the client as a survivor and works with the client to establish reasonable treatment goals, including improving resiliency and the ability to self-regulate, developing a strong sense of self, and creating a new narrative with a positive outlook and a sense of hope for the future.