I frequently work with people who have symptoms of depression or anxiety, trouble forming or keeping healthy relationships, and those adjusting to life transitions or seeking to improve their physical health through lifestyle changes. Therapy can be effective whether or not you are prescribed psychiatric medications, and whether or not you have any specific diagnosis.
We set treatment goals together during our first session, and continually evaluate our efforts as time goes on. The specific course of therapy is flexible and shaped around your personal goals, but will generally involve a combination of reflection and action. Reflection means that we will build an understanding of your individual patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. This can incorporate surface-level thoughts as well as deep-seated beliefs that guide your experience of the world. While discussion of the past may be a part of this, it will be connected to what is happening in the present. You will control the pace for exposing any memories, especially traumatic ones, that we decide to explore in therapy. Action means that we will identify ways to change your attitudes or behavior in order to make recognizable improvements in your quality of life. At the end of a typical therapy session, we will plan specific activities for you to put into practice that week. At the end of a complete course of therapy, you should feel prepared to apply new attitudes and behaviors to the unknown future.
Seeking help is a powerful way to take greater ownership of your life. Please contact me at dr.rachel.waxman@gmail.com if you would like to partner with me to take that step.