The diagnosis and treatment of: depression, bipolar affective disorder, “soft bipolar,” depression with mood instability, menopausal depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, approach anxiety, performance anxiety, public speaking anxiety, panic disorder, driving anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder, traumatic brain injury with effects on mood, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, headaches, insomnia, anger management issues, food addiction, binge overeating disorder, alcoholism, pornography addiction, stimulant addiction, marijuana addiction, psychosis, schizophrenia, and autistic spectrum disorders.

– No.  That is old “one dimensional” thinking.  I consider the biological, psychological and social problems going on and then generally recommend the same category of solutions as the problem is in.  For psychological problems, seek psychological solutions. If you can’t stop obsessing at night, for example, use a thinking skill to stop the bad thinking, such as a meditation method to block that thinking. For a biological problem like insomnia, consider a sleep medication, preferably one not habit forming, if thinking skills don’t work.  If you can’t get to sleep at night because there is nothing rewarding socially to look forward to the next day (you are socially isolated due to not having social skills), then I will support a person learning those skills so they can make friends and have a rewarding social life to look forward to when you wake up to each morning. We are social creatures after all. If another person is doing this psychotherapy, I back off and just do education on these topics.  For more on this see “biopsychosocial model” in Wikipedia.

You are in the driver’s seat.  You can choose what you want to do and I am here to help you every step of the way.  I can teach time management strategies, meditation, mindfulness strategies, rational thinking skills, relationship skills, among many other stress management strategies.  You pick what you want to learn and I’ll work with you on those things.

To empower my patients I give them a link to a library of 800 audio files and dozens of PDF’s I have written, which explains specific examples of how people have changed their thinking to develop  more confidence and emotional self-control.

Another innovation we’ve made is different visit times.  I have longer work hours until 6 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays for people who work.  I see people for a 45 minute first visit.  Depending on what we think is reasonable, followup visits can be for 15 minutes or 30 minute visits. You can specify you only want 15 minute visits.

Work hours: Monday and Tuesday: 8 am to 6 pm, Wednesday through Friday: 8 am to 3 pm or 5 pm depending on the week.

Text reminders have been very popular.  We send out text reminders of your office appointment time 48 hours in advance to help you remember your visit time.

I have taught over 400 people a 3 step meditation technique that works well to stop some kinds of obsessions.  I can review different herbal medicines that have the potential for replacing in part traditional medicine. Examples: valerian root tea and meditation to help for sleep. Chamomille or cinnamon tea tea for excess nervous tension.  Cooking with whole food and Italian herbs for better health. How to resist urges for fast food and junk food. Outdoor natural meditation for stress management. Aroma therapy for relaxation. These can be used with or without traditional medication.