Therapies Provided

Ego State Therapy

Ego state therapies have been around for many decades. (E.g. Psychosynthesis, Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis, and Inner Child Psychotherapy, to name a few.) These approaches have in common the idea that different personality parts, sub-personalities, or ego states can have different views of reality. For example, healthy ego states live in the present, feel and manage the full range of emotions, hold positive beliefs about self and world, engage in appropriate/desirable behaviors, and have an adaptive point of view. In contrast, wounded ego states live in the past, are stuck in painful emotions, hold negative beliefs about self and world, engage in unwanted or inappropriate behaviors, and have a maladaptive point of view. Ego state therapies aim to help individual wounded ego states heal, and aim increase communication and cooperation between wounded and healthy ego states. This resolves old traumas, quiets internal conflicts, and builds self esteem.

DNMS Therapy

Since 2000, I've been developing my own ego state therapy, the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS), for helping heal parts of self that have gotten stuck in wounding experiences from the past - especially those experiences involving unmet developmental needs. I've especially designed this approach to heal childhood trauma wounds, such as those inflicted by physical, sexual, and verbal abuse; and attachment wounds, such as those inflicted by parental rejection, neglect, and enmeshment. If your problems are rooted in unmet developmental needs, or significantly wounding childhood relationships - the DNMS may be right for you. This gentle therapy starts by getting clients connected to three internal Resource parts of self: a Nurturing Adult Self, a Protective Adult Self, and a Spiritual Core Self. Together these Resources help wounded child parts of self get unstuck from the past by meeting their unmet developmental needs, helping them process through painful emotions, and by establishing an emotional bond. Special attention is given to healing maladaptive introjects (parts of self that mimic wounding people, like abusive or rejecting parents). Since these wounded ego states cause the most trouble for clients, their healing results in a huge benefit. As the maladaptive introjects heal, and get totally unstuck from the past, clients report that internal conflicts resolve, and unwanted behaviors, beliefs, and emotions abate. (While the DNMS is used most often to heal the wounds inflicted by childhood relationships, it can also heal the trauma wounds inflicted in adulthood relationships.) The DNMS uses alternating bilateral stimulation (made popular by EMDR therapy) at key points in the process.

EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a fast and efficient protocol for desensitizing single-incident, adult-onset traumas (such as car accidents, house fires, floods, etc.) that do not link back to unmet developmental needs. EMDR incorporates alternating bilateral stimulation which appears to speed up trauma desensitization. This can be applied as rapid side-to-side eye movements, alternating bilateral tactile stimulation, and/or alternating bilateral auditory stimulation. I've been trained in EMDR therapy since 1995. I've published professional articles about integrating EMDR with ego state therapy in the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) Newsletter, and I've given presentations at several EMDRIA Conferences. I was an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant for six years. I hold the patent on the TheraTapper™, an bilateral tactile stimulation device that has been sold world-wide to both DNMS and EMDR therapists.

Mindfulness for Chronic Pain and Illness

People who suffer from chronic pain or illness often hold anger and resentment towards the body. Such a hostile relationship with the body can exacerbate pain and suffering. Mindfulness meditation techniques can help a person learn to have a loving relationship with the body - even a body in pain. This can alleviate suffering and promote wellness and healing. I've been a student of mindfulness meditation (Vipassana) since the early 1990s. I've led several day-long mindfulness retreats, and taught classes in the use of mindfulness meditation in psychotherapy and pain management. In 1995 I completed an internship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center Stress Reduction Clinic in Worcester. This world renown clinic's Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program provides intensive training in meditative practices to patients with chronic pain and illness. It was led by well-known author Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and was featured on Bill Moyer's 1993 PBS special "Healing and The Mind." I have several published articles on the treatment of chronic pain and illness.