Consultation & Assessment: When I meet with someone for the first time, I perform a thorough evaluation. The evaluation assesses both symptoms, such as an inexplicable sad mood, and difficulties pertaining to character, our habitual ways of relating to ourselves and others. These problems are considered in the context of a person’s overall life and goals. At the end of the initial meeting, I share my understanding of the problems and discuss the available treatments. Occasionally, a consultation must be extended over several sessions in order to satisfactorily address more complicated questions about diagnosis and treatment. I also perform consultations in order to offer a second opinion on treatments that are in progress.

Psychotherapy: The type of psychotherapy I practice is based on the notion that we have emotional conflicts that are outside our awareness but which continue to negatively impact our lives; by understanding these incompatible thoughts and feelings, we are able to overcome the obstacles they create and lead more gratifying lives. This process involves reflecting on and giving new meanings to our experience. Psychotherapy can be beneficial for a wide range of difficulties, freeing a person from symptoms and behaviors which are difficult to change on one’s own. Therapy sessions typically take place once or twice a week but, depending on the nature of the problems, can occur more or less frequently. I have a special interest in Transference Focused Psychotherapy, a treatment specifically designed and effective for personality disorders.

Psychoanalysis: I also treat patients with psychoanalysis, the original and most intensive form of psychotherapy. Traditionally, psychoanalysis is conducted four times per week with the patient reclining on a couch; the analyst sits behind the couch, out of view, to facilitate the patient's saying whatever comes to mind without censorship. These “free associations” reveal important unconscious motivations, which the analyst can then discuss with the patient. As insight is attained, the patient begins to feel and act differently. This process is repeated over time, transforming a person’s inner life and leading to greater contentment in relationships, in work, and with oneself. Whereas psychotherapy is more focused on finding solutions to specific problems, psychoanalysis is geared towards changing character. Contrary to the notion that a person must be very sick to come so often, analysis requires that a patient have considerable psychological strengths.

Psychopharmacology: As a medical doctor, I can prescribe medications which alleviate symptoms associated with depression, mania, anxiety, psychosis, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, among other conditions. A psychiatrist, by virtue of his or her training, acquires considerable familiarity with these medications, which is necessary to prescribe them in the most helpful manner and with the fewest side effects. For certain problems, the best treatment is a combination of medication and psychotherapy. If someone is already seeing a therapist who is not a physician, I can prescribe medication and work with the therapist to provide coordinated care.