Women – almost twice as likely to become depressed as men. This may be partly due to the hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy, menstruation, menopause, and puberty.

Men – more apt to go undiagnosed and less likely to seek help.. They may mask their condition with alcohol or other substances or with hostile or angry behavior. Men are more likely than women to kill themselves due to their being less likely to seek help.

Elderly – Changes in physical condition and losses in heir lives can contribute to depression in older people. Loved ones may see the signs of depression as the normal consequences of aging. Thus they may go untreated.

Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder

Each person experiences depression in their own way. One person may sleep all the time and another may not be able to sleep at all. One person may eat a lot and another may have a hard time eating anything. However, if you are depressed, you know how it feels for you. A diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, commonly known as depression, involves having a depressed mood every day for at least two weeks, plus at least four of the following symptoms in the same time frame:

Loss of energy, feeling tired all the time
Decreased pleasure in normal activities
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness
Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (i.e., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite
Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal thoughts without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
Insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) nearly every day
Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.

However, depression is more than just a combination of symptoms. It is a common yet serious medical condition that can feel very overpowering and interfere with one’s ability to function. It can occur once or can repeat. There are other mood disorders such as Dysthymia, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Postpartum Depression, and Bipolar Disorder. A qualified professional must make the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan. You can feel exhausted, worthless, hopeless, and helpless when you are depressed. Please realize that these feelings are part of the depression. As treatment begins to take effect, the negative thinking starts to fade. Psychotherapy, especially cognitive psychotherapy with mind-body components, is specifically designed to change the negative thoughts connected with depression.

What Causes Depression?

There is no single cause and often results from a combination of things. However, depression is not just a mental state; it is related to physical changes in the brain. Chemicals called neurotransmitters in the brain that carry signals in your brain and nerves can go out of balance. Some common factors can include:

Family History
Trauma and stress
Personality factors
Physical conditions and some medications
Other psychological disorders

A Holistic View of Depression:

Physically – lack of vital energy, hard for physical body to perform properly.
Emotionally – fear, lack of appreciation and gratitude, inability to see positive aspects of life.
Mentally – confusion, hard time understanding ones’ experiences and putting them into perspective. Loss of meaning, value, and purpose in one’s own experience.
Spiritually – feeling disconnected from the Self, from the source of life, or wisdom and of universal love.
Holistic Psychotherapy treats all of the above aspects of experience.

First Aid for Depression

Try being with others, even though you may not feel like it. It is better for you
It is hard to be objective, so don’t make any important decisions.
Be kind to yourself, and take care of yourself just as you would with any illness.
If you can, try and get some mild exercise.

Remember that the negative thinking is the depression talking.

Get proper diagnosis and a personalized treatment plan from a professional. It is much easier to recover when you get the help you need.

There is no need to suffer when help is readily available.

Anxiety and Panic Disorder Treatment

Anxiety, Explained Simply

What happens to the body during a state of anxiety? A feeling of disquiet is induced by an outside thought, influence, or situation. The heart rate starts to speed up, the blood begins to move through the body more rapidly, and the breathing becomes shallow. As the breath becomes more shallow the lungs do not fill to capacity and when breath is exhaled all the air in lungs is not expelled. This creates a sort of negative feedback loop between the body and the brain. The body is exhibiting the signs of anxiety and the brain gets the message, “here’s some anxiety here” and it tells the body to show the physical signs of anxiety. Then the brain and body say, “Whoops, here are the physical signs of anxiety; this is really scary.” This keeps building up and that is what starts a panic attack.

If we can learn to break the negative feedback loop between the brain and the body we can start to control the anxiety. Breathing techniques, visualization exercises, meditation techniques and re-orienting self-talk and thinking are all helpful in taking control.

Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder Treatment

Panic attacks are sudden surges of overwhelming fear that can come without warning and sometimes without an obvious reason. This is more intense than the feelings of anxiety or feeling “stressed out” that are felt by all of us. One out or 75 people will experience a panic attack at some time in their life.

Full-blown repeated panic attacks can be very disabling. People who experience them should seek out treatment so they do not have to avoid places or situations where they may have experienced a panic attack. For example, if a person has had a panic attack going over a bridge, that person could develop a fear of bridges and this may affect the routes a person will travel by and could severely limit where the person will be able to go.

Although panic attacks are not dangerous they can feel terrifying. People can feel ‘out of control’ or ‘crazy’. A Panic disorder is frightening because of the panic attacks associated with it. Also, untreated panic disorders can lead to other complications such as phobias, depression, medical complications or substance abuse. Psychotherapy often in conjunction with the right medication can be very powerful in treating panic disorders.

I say- let’s turn panic into joy!!
What? Yes, this is my favorite part of therapy!!!

Because I see each person as an individual, and I know that everyone responds to treatment differently, I will explore with you different techniques that will help you the most.

So, once we get a handle on the initial anxiety that brought you into treatment, and settle the symptoms down, we will then get down to the fun of exploring the many techniques that turn your mind from an enemy into your best friend. Yup, we’ll use the power of your wonderful mind to help you get the most out of life and to heal some old wounds, and we’ll have some fun in the process!!

Are you ready for this?

Depression

Spirituality Issues

Are you curious about your soul’s purpose? You’re in the right place if you consider yourself to be spiritually inquisitive. If you’ve read the books, watched the videos and are prepared to expand I am excited to join you in your journey.

Effective psychotherapy addresses the body, mind, and spirit. For many years the field was reluctant to chart these waters.

We are mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual beings, and our healing needs reflect these different aspects of ourselves.

If you are ready and willing to chart these waters, I’m with you all the way!!

In addition to my training as a psychotherapist, I have studied many mind/body modalities:

Master-Instructor Integrative Energy Therapy
Reiki II Usui Reiki
Reiki I Hermetic Reiki Healing with Damien Echols
Intuitive Healer Stillpoint School of Integrative Therapy

I can guide you in working with your energy centers (chakras), learning breathing techniques, working with vision boards, meditation techniques and other practices. This is a fun and effective way to enhance your psychotherapy experience if you are interested.

Sprituality

Grief & Loss

There are all types of losses. It can be a death, a break-up, it can be loss of health or an employment reversal, loss of a home or a way of life.

No matter what the cause, it can feel like life has turned you upside down, and you can’t figure out how to move forward. It seems like you’ve entered a strange land that is hard to describe to others. Our culture can be very hard on those experiencing grief, and sometimes it feels like you aren’t “allowed” to speak of these feelings, because others may have a hard time dealing with it. Plus everyone deals with loss and grief differently, and people often struggle with wondering if what they are feeling is “normal”.

All in all, it is a lonely and isolating place to be. It can be very helpful to have a place to talk about these feelings, sort them out, and try and make some sense of a situation that seems to make no sense at all. Putting things into perspective can be a step toward healing and reclaiming your life. Plus, it is healing to have someone listen without judgement or expectations, and being able to give helpful feedback.

You don’t have to take this journey alone.

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”

Washington Irving

Grief

Narcissitic Abuse Recovery

Emotional Abuse

Some call it “Crazy Love”, some call it co-dependency, whatever you call it, it can make you doubt your sanity.

It can be a spouse, a parent, a boss or friend, but being in the thrall of an abuser is traumatic and can paralyze you.

Oftentimes, these abusers have personality disorders and are very skillful at manipulation and keeping you off balance. There is a current popular word for this that you may have heard about, “Gaslighting”.

The following is from the National Domestic Violence Hotline:

“What is Gaslighting?

“You’re crazy – that never happened.”
“Are you sure? You tend to have a bad memory.”
“It’s all in your head.”

Does your partner repeatedly say things like this to you? Do you often start questioning your own perception of reality, even your own sanity, within your relationship? If so, your partner may be using what mental health professionals call “gaslighting.”

This term comes from the 1938 stage play Gas Light, in which a husband attempts to drive his wife crazy by dimming the lights (which were powered by gas) in their home, and then he denies that the light changed when his wife points it out. It is an extremely effective form of emotional abuse that causes a victim to question their own feelings, instincts, and sanity, which gives the abusive partner a lot of power (and we know that abuse is about power and control). Once an abusive partner has broken down the victim’s ability to trust their own perceptions, the victim is more likely to stay in the abusive relationship.

There are a variety of gaslighting techniques that an abusive partner might use:

Withholding: the abusive partner pretends not to understand or refuses to listen. Ex. “I don’t want to hear this again,” or “You’re trying to confuse me.”
Countering: the abusive partner questions the victim’s memory of events, even when the victim remembers them accurately. Ex. “You’re wrong, you never remember things correctly.”
Blocking/Diverting: the abusive partner changes the subject and/or questions the victim’s thoughts. Ex. “Is that another crazy idea you got from [friend/family member]?” or “You’re imagining things.”
Trivializing: the abusive partner makes the victim’s needs or feelings seem unimportant. Ex. “You’re going to get angry over a little thing like that?” or “You’re too sensitive.”
Forgetting/Denial: the abusive partner pretends to have forgotten what actually occurred or denies things like promises made to the victim. Ex. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” or “You’re just making stuff up.”

Gaslighting typically happens very gradually in a relationship; in fact, the abusive partner’s actions may seem harmless at first. Over time, however, these abusive patterns continue and a victim can become confused, anxious, isolated, and depressed, and they can lose all sense of what is actually happening. Then they start relying on the abusive partner more and more to define reality, which creates a very difficult situation to escape.

In order to overcome this type of abuse, it’s important to start recognizing the signs and eventually learn to trust yourself again. According to author and psychoanalyst Robin Stern, Ph.D., the signs of being a victim of gaslighting include:

You constantly second-guess yourself.
You ask yourself, “Am I too sensitive?” multiple times a day.
You often feel confused and even crazy.
You’re always apologizing to your partner.
You can’t understand why, with so many apparently good things in your life, you aren’t happier.
You frequently make excuses for your partner’s behavior to friends and family.
You find yourself withholding information from friends and family so you don’t have to explain or make excuses.
You know something is terribly wrong, but you can never quite express what it is, even to yourself.
You start lying to avoid the put-downs and reality twists.
You have trouble making simple decisions.
You have the sense that you used to be a very different person – more confident, more fun-loving, more relaxed.
You feel hopeless and joyless.
You feel as though you can’t do anything right.
You wonder if you are a “good enough” partner.”

For many years, I was a community partner at the premier abuse agency in New Jersey and partnered with them to provide services to their population.

Over the years, I have developed a step-by-step protocol to help people:

Identify how they have been abused
Work through the emotions and practicalities of freeing themselves
Extricate themselves SAFELY and in the way that makes the most sense for them physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

Narcissitic

PTSD & Trauma

Do you keep experiencing a traumatic situation or a series of traumatic situations over and over again?

PTSD is diagnosed after a person experiences symptoms for at least one month following a traumatic event. However, symptoms may not appear until several months or even years later. The disorder is characterized by three main types of symptoms:

Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive, distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.

Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma.

Increased arousal, such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy, and being easily irritated and angered. Your body continues to send out stress signals, which lead to PTSD symptoms. Studies show that the part of the brain that handles fear and emotion (the amygdala) is more active in people with PTSD. Over time, PTSD changes your brain. The area that controls your memory (the hippocampus) becomes smaller.

I have had the honor to work with hundreds of 9/11 responders in the World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence at Rutgers University. This is a research and treatment program. After I left the program, I continued to treat responders in my practice by referral from this program.

My longtime grounding in mind/body techniques enabled me to effectively partner with these heroic individuals in their healing journey.

PTSD

Somatics

Somatic work focusing on the mind-body connection. This includes physical awareness, breathing techniques, and specific movements to release trauma, tension, and stress that may be stored in the body/cognitive system.

Somatics

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