I prefer creative problem solving to chasing symptoms when it comes to engaging people of any age in collaborative exploration of possibilities in therapy. Health, for me, is more than just lack of symptoms. I consider health as an ongoing journey; chains of decisions we make every day to broaden our horizons and embrace wholeness. I believe in the old saying that wherever we stumble therein lies our treasure and therefore see mental health issues as the key to open the secret garden to our inner strength. Being a newcomer to this land, I make all effort to bring a broad cultural perspective into my work; a new look at the same old games. 

I work from the greater framework of Existential approach[1], utilizing CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and solution focused strength-based therapies. When you work with me, we’ll consider the power of your self-talk (personal narratives), myths and symbols (social narratives), and dreams (nighttime narratives). We’ll bring it all together through talk and art work. 

You’ll learn how your thoughts, feelings, and actions interact to create narratives of reality for you. This “reality” is, to the contrary of all its seeming convincingness, not constant but your vision-in-flux; as you re-write your narratives in each moment so “what’s real” changes. The health of our body and mind depends on the health of our narratives. 

You will see that there are no right or wrong choices in the abstract but everything we do, or don’t do, have costs as well as benefits; and with some decisions you will feel more comfortable than with others – but why? You will become aware of your human condition; will work with your freedom and responsibility to choose your actions because with every action (or lack thereof) you take risks. 

You will train yourself to withstand the pains and the pleasures that result from the fact that the best you can do is to be responsible for your own actions only and not for how others respond to you. You will see that in any relationship, not getting hurt is not a realistic expectation but learning the skills to heal quickly is. 

You will learn, for instance, that the failures of yesterday say absolutely nothing about the successes of tomorrow; what stand between them are the decisions and actions you make today. You will expand on the idea that what you may have called “it’s all my fault” are only choices you have made with the best of what you had at the time. You were limited in vision and resources – aren’t we all? You will see that your “bad” decisions don’t need punishment but awareness and more careful planning if you are to prevent yourself perpetuating the same futile approaches. 

You will find solid grounds within yourself on which you can always find security and safety regardless of the storms you have to withstand in the outside world. In fact, the only dangerous storms are the ones in which you lose contact with your solid core. You will learn to live with your Self since this is the only company that you will surely have until the day you die – others are always free to leave without notice. 

However, if you are curious about how I work with mental health issues, here is a hint. 

I focus on building on your strengths rather than chasing your weaknesses ‘till they (or you) run out of breath. Our flaws are endless. Our life and strengths are limited. 

I see depression as a search for new meanings and self-definition instead of a shipwreck to get rid of. 

I envision anxiety as a pathway to integrate details and complexity in your life while using fear constructively. 

I view childhood adversity as permission to create a life from scratch that suits you, not the vague social expectations. 

Don’t mistake the grief from past losses for the potentials of the future. Keep the pain where it is: in the present. On the threshold of the future stand the guardian spirits of Awareness and Exploration. 

“Trauma”. This is where your treasure lies. You have seen one face of the drama of life that revealed itself only to you. “Trauma” is not an outside event but it is your response to that event. If it is your response then it is under your control – you have just dropped the reign and lost sight of it. The symptoms may look like learning disability, memory impairment, problems with self-control or managing emotions, self-defeating strategies, depression, anxiety, nightmares, destructive anger outbursts, bed wetting, bowel control issues, jealousy, psychosis (detachment from common experiences), disregard of others’ rights or needs, hoarding, disrupted eating patterns, irritability, frequent or persistent medical conditions, substance use, chemical or behavioral addictions, intense insatiable needs to perform certain actions, or you name it. It won’t be easy, but once you are out of it, you’ll find yourself on a different plain entirely, with an unprecedented appreciation of LIFE itself. 

All I am asking of you is the courage to be you. 

[1] Existential therapy is a non-pathologizing therapeutic approach of European origin. It emphasizes the idea that our lives are the sum of our choices. If so, we are fully responsible for exploring our options given the human limitations and make decisions about where we are going from here. The individual is both free and responsible to make his and her decisions and to create a meaningful life. An existential therapist would create an atmosphere where no pressure is put onto any outcome other than what the client would find meaningful and worthy of living or dying for.