Hours

About

I'm a general psychiatrist providing individual, couples, and family psychotherapy. I also prescribe medication. I am not a child psychiatrist, so I usually do not see people under the age of 18. I have been practicing psychiatry for over 40 years, and I am convinced that good treatment requires that you feel your doctor understands you as a person. We may find that your issues actually fit into a diagnosis like depression, AD/HD or something else. That is only a part of who you are. In fact, we are all human beings, so we all struggle with the joys and curve balls that life sends our way. Yes, a diagnosis or personality theory can help, but we are all much more human than otherwise.

My patients and I begin our work together with an initial evaluation that usually takes 1 or 2 hour-long meetings. It is my job to understand what issues bring you to see me, and it is your job to see if you are comfortable with me. I do my very best to understand you from your own perspective. Everyone is unique, but the problems that we all face in our lives usually are the result of psychological, interpersonal and biological factors; and these usually interact. That means I try to look at all these issues. Of course, sometimes things are fairly straightforward. For example, I see many people with AD/HD. For some people, AD/HD did not complicate their family, school and social lives. For them, medication may be all that is needed. For others, AD/HD made their early life very difficult and left scars that continue to cause problems in their adult life. Then psychotherapy can be very helpful. Those problems may complicate their relationships with parents, spouses, and children. Then, family or couples treatment can make all the difference. This means that after initial meetings, we decide what treatment(s) are most likely to help you.

For many people their spiritual life can be a source of great help and comfort. For others, this isn’t the case—it can be a part of the problem. I have devoted a lot of time and effort to understanding religion, both for my own spiritual development and so that I can help my patients when it is helpful to think about spiritual issues. I am an Episcopalian, but I think it would be very unethical to proselytize my own beliefs. I believe my own spirituality actually makes me more able to work not only with people who are Christians, but also with people who actively practice other religions and well as those who are agnostics and atheists. Since spirituality is a part of life, I think that it can be helpful, even essential for some—but certainly not for all my patients—to talk about spirituality in their treatment.