About Me

While this section is entitled  “About Me” you’ll notice it’s mainly about my orientation and style as a therapist, not so much about the rest of me. (I’m a typical therapist in that way — I don’t disclose much about my personal life.)

I was trained at the Wright Institute in Berkeley and the Family Service Agency of Marin and have practiced for over a decade now, with my own private practice.

As a psychodynamic (or psychoanalytic) therapist I help you outgrow unwanted patterns of feeling, thinking, and acting.  We explore emotionally and intellectually how and when these patterns formed, how they manifest today, and how to move beyond them.  It’s a process that brings growth and transformation.

My therapeutic style is friendly but professional and respectful of boundaries. I try not to talk too much or too little and aim for active but not overactive participation.  I take up the position of a fellow-traveler in your life who talks about your life with you, while remaining outside your life.

As a former college professor in the humanities and social sciences, I have a PhD in political theory from the University of California at Berkeley.  I studied at Berkeley in an interdisciplinary mix of philosophy, social theory, political science, literature, and psychoanalytic theory, and taught for several years at universities in California and at McGill University in Canada.  I can draw on this background at opportune moments in therapy, to broaden or deepen the conversation, but I’m not long-winded about it and have a good sense of which clients would like to hear more or less from this side of me.

I enjoy humor and laughter, and if you’re shy or introverted, please don’t worry, I’m easy to talk to and know how to fill quiet moments.