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Couples & Families
| Frequently Asked Questions |
1. With what kinds of issues can you help me?
I can help you to discover your bliss and find a way to follow it. I can help you to become more fully functioning. I can help you to resolve any lingering issues of parenting, abuse, anxiety, or loss. I can help you to grow up. I can help you to make difficult decisions. I can help you learn how to deal effectively with difficult situations. I can help you develop more compassionate relationships. I can help you dissolve an inappropriate or unproductive relationship. I can help you to become un-confused. I can empower you. I can help you to find constant joy and contentment.
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2. How would we begin?
First, we will meet for a couple of hours to learn about each other.
We will discuss the issue or issues you wish to address; I will give
you a relatively clear picture of the process we will follow; and we will set up a schedule for continuing to work together. At our second meeting, I will describe in detail the precise process we will use and what you can realistically expect. (Each session will require about an hour and a half.)
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3. How long would it take?
In my experience, depending on the specific issue and your willingness
to commit the necessary time, discovering an emergent solution
usually requires three to six months.
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4. How much time will you need from me?
The minimum requirement to make any real progress is one session
(an hour and a half) a week. However, if you would like to
move faster, we can work more frequently.
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5. How can I be sure that you have the expertise to understand
my problem well enough to help me?
First, because it is unlikely that I have not already worked
with a similar issue; second, because I have seven children from
two marriages, one of whom prefers to pretend that I don’t
exist and some of whom adore me; and third, because if I can’t,
I will tell you so.
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6. In what way does your approach differ from that of traditional
therapists and counselors?
One of the most significant differences is that I completely
reject the use of labels. Working with me, we will focus rigorously
on your behavior patterns without trying to fit them into some
preconceived category. Whether you think or have been told that
you are depressed, have attention deficit disorder, suffer from
anxiety, are obsessive-compulsive, or any other psychiatric label,
I am concerned only with your actual behavior (which of course
includes your feelings and emotions) and how well that behavior
is helping you to function fully in your present life situations.
If you are presently taking medication for any behavior-related
condition, my objective is to help you get to the point where
you will not need it (which is a decision that will be made by
your physician and you, not me). In my opinion, the extant psychiatric
framework is bankrupt. Most of my friends and acquaintances within
that discipline agree with my opinion. I also believe that almost
all the people who have chosen to work within the domain of helping
people change their behavior bring sincerity and compassion to
their efforts. They do the best they can with what they have.
Unfortunately, all they have is a rational epistemology, an epistemology
that does not provide any real operational mechanisms to comprehend
the complex dynamics of the restrictive nonconscious and that
implicitly segregates cognitive dynamics from affective dynamics.
Using transrational analysis, together we will seek to answer
the following four questions:
What is your current reality?
How was that reality created?
Is that reality presently serving you well?
If not, what new reality do you need to construct?
The transrational process is not linear, nor does it rely solely
on cognitive processes. Quite to the contrary, in fact, without
emphatic attention to affective dynamics, attempting to address
these questions is futile. You should also know that the process
is intense and demanding, but also rewarding in ways that cannot
be anticipated.
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7. Would my work with you be covered by my insurance?
No
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8. I have some other questions that you have not addressed here.
I would be glad to have the opportunity to address them.
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9. How do I start?
By calling me |
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