How We work

At the core of our depth therapy approach is the principle of treating you like the complex human that you are. We know there is no one-size-fits-all answer that works for everyone. That’s why we want to get to know you, the real you, the version of you that says what you think and doesn’t question how you feel.

Take anxiety as an example:

We know you didn’t just randomly wake up one day feeling anxious, as if it were a seasonal cold, but that instead anxiety is a reflection of the way you perceive the world. At its core, anxiety is a sign that we are perceiving danger in our environment. An anxiety disorder is when we are constantly perceiving danger in our environment, often when it doesn’t exist.

One approach is to treat the anxiety as the problem and to say that your perception is flawed and you need to be more realistic about what’s going on. However, most people who have dealt with anxiety can tell you that it’s not a rational thing; you can know logically that everything is okay but emotionally you still don’t believe it.

Our approach is to take your anxiety seriously and instead of treating like it’s an overreaction, to give voice to your anxiety and understand where it’s coming from. What are you perceiving as dangerous in your environment and why does it feel dangerous? Emotions are pesky in that they don’t resolve until we give them voice, as irrational or embarrassing as they may be. Emotions are also tricky in that it’s not always so obvious how we feel until we get into the context behind our emotions.

Your job is to express yourself and our job is to help you understand what’s going on. Part of doing this is identifying any larger patterns that may help us understand your emotions. Maybe you find reasons to not ask for your needs because it may be inconvenient to others? Feel responsible for managing other people’s emotions? Worry that if you don’t take care of every detail then no one will? Always need to know the right way to do something before you can proceed?

Everyone’s anxiety is different, but for each of us there is a reason why we worry, and without pinpointing that why, we are powerless to change it. Coping skills and breathing exercises are not very helpful when they’re applied to an amorphous problem like anxiety. But when we know where and why we’re applying these skills, they can be incredibly effective. Our goal is to pinpoint the causes of your anxiety and to then help you find the most effective way to deal with it.