My Therapeutic Approach

Psychotherapy derives from the word roots psykhē (“soul, mind, spirit, life”) and therapeia (“curing, healing, service done to the sick”); in essence, it is the care and healing of the mind, soul, and spirit. I approach psychotherapy from what is often referred to as an integrative or eclectic perspective, which integrates various approaches to healing symptoms and supporting emotional, spiritual, and cognitive wellness.

History and formation as destiny until you challenge it

My approach and training are based in a primarily psychodynamic approach. Psychodynamic therapy is rooted in the idea that conflicting internal feelings and narratives that exist beyond our immediate awareness can contribute to a lot of the anxiety and discomfort that we experience on an ongoing basis. It helps to reveal and unravel conflicting thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to allow you to better clarify how you actually feel about something and what you actually want. Understanding your family of origin and the cultural influences that helped shape your biases and assumptions about yourself, the world, and what is possible for you can be deeply rich territory to mine for helpful readjustments to self-concept and sense of potential.

Relationship and relating as key indicators of health and happiness

Another aspect of therapy that I am often attuned to is the quality of relationships and relating present in your life - are you comfortable expressing difficult feelings to others? Are you able to do so in a way that is mindful and kind? What is your relationship to honesty? What is your level of comfort with being yourself? To what extent is a persona dominating your public life, and to what extent is that depriving your inner life of health and richness?

Fear of emotions can cause a lot of chaos

One important way in which internal conflict can manifest is in the fight against our own emotions. If an emotion is trying to express, and you block it, it requires a marshalling of inner resources against an aspect of self that tends to layer on more pain to a situation. By building emotional fluency - i.e., comfort with a whole range of emotions - and learning to identify and take insight from different emotional expressions, feelings, fears and internal impulses become a lot more manageable. This is something that often factors into my therapeutic work with clients.

A mix of therapeutic approaches and influences

For those familiar in different therapeutic modalities, I also draw on elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), Gestalt, Internal Family Systems (IFS), structural family systems, Bowenian family systems, Gottman couples therapy, David Richo’s relational writings, Jungian theory, Rogerian and person-centered therapy, and feminist and culturally-informed psychotherapies.

I am passionate about helping my clients to refine and cultivate their inner values and guidance systems, moving towards greater empowerment, self-determination, and relational pleasure and ease. I will happily clarify or elaborate on any of the above - if you wish to learn more, please contact me via phone, email, or set up a pre-scheduled consultation call.

I look forward to hearing from you if this sounds like a potential fit!

(323) 688-6771 // hello@nicpas.com