Thinking about therapy?

Therapy provides a "safety zone" to look at issues that have kept you from living a full and satisfying life.  Some problems that bring people to therapy include:

• Anxiety and chronic worry
• Sleep problems
• Depression
• Family issues that don't ever seem to get resolved
• Trauma history
• Chronic pain
• Problems managing a stressful lifestyle
• Relying on drugs or alcohol to feel better

Some types of therapy rely on "symptom reduction," are relatively short term, and don't necessarily involve going back into the past.  Other models are more "psychodynamic," and work on relationships with important people in your life, both past and present.  One popular type of therapy that is getting a lot of media attention is "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy."  This type of treatment helps people change negative thought patterns that have constantly interfered in functioning.  It is often used for depression.

I also offer an exciting type of treatment called "neurofeedback."  Neurofeedback uses an EEG (via sensors placed on the head) and a computer that gives feedback from a video game to help people learn to increase certain brainwaves that are helpful to improve functioning.  Neurofeedback can help regulate sleep, emotions, ways of thinking, and can dramatically reduce certain problematic behaviors.  It is most known for the treatment of ADHD in children and adults, but has also shown good results for depression, OCD, anxiety disorders, anger problems, and the autistic spectrum disorders (including Asperger's syndrome).  There is extensive information about neurofeedback at the web site www.eegspectrum.com.  A recommended book that explains in significant detail how neurofeedback works is "A Symphony in the Brain," by Jim Robbins, who is a science writer for the New York Times.

If you are interested in reading more about the process of therapy and associated topics, here are some books I recommend:

For ADHD:    

•           Healing ADD by Daniel Amen, MD
•           The ADD Book:  New Understandings, New Approaches to Parenting Your Child with ADD.  By William Sears, M.D. and Lynda Thompson, PhD.
•       Getting Rid of Ritalin by Dr. Robert Hill and Dr. Eduardo Castro
•           Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell, MD and John Ragey, MD

For Neurofeedback:

For Anxiety:

•            Fear and Other Uninvited Guests by Harriet Lerner

For Depression:

•            The Unholy Ghost edited by Neil Casey
•            Listening to Prozac by Peter D. Kramer

For OCD:

•       The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing by Judith Rapoport, MD

For Mindfulness Oriented Therapy:

•           Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart by Mark Epstein, MD

For General Information About Therapy: 

•      How to Go To Therapy by Carl Sherman