Services

We can help you with:

Lifestyle Changes

• Adhere to your medication regimens
• Devise a method to regularly monitor your health status (e.g., pain, muscle tension, diet, etc.)
• Learn coping techniques as a complement to your other medical treatments
• Identify and change triggers and lifestyle behaviors that perpetuate or exacerbate your pain or illness
• Learn how to pace or modify daily activities to reduce your pain and improve your overall functioning.

Skills Training

• Learn how to communicate with your healthcare providers to get the information you need and convey your concerns clearly
• Learn how to explain your illness and what that “means” for you and loved ones to friends, family, colleagues, and strangers
• Learn skills and relaxation techniques to help you cope with pain, nausea, and fatigue
• Manage stress and balancing the needs of others who depend on you as well as your own needs
• Identify and problem solve barriers to healthy illness management
• Prepare for surgery and recovery.

Psychotherapy, Education, Support

• Increase your sense of control over your medical condition
• Learn to accept living with the medical diagnosis and understand how it may impact you and your loved ones
• Cope with “living with” chronic illness
• Cope with physical changes/limits because of the condition and/or medications
• Examine the identity and meaning of life issues that may come up while dealing with your medical condition
• Understand how the attitudes and beliefs you grew up with influence how you cope with your medical condition
• Resolve cultural differences in the treatment of your medical condition
• Adjust and cope with a loved one’s illness.

More information: Coping with Serious Illness

Treatment Customized For You

Services are customized to fit your needs and your goals. The recommended number of sessions to address the difficulties you are focusing on may vary from 4 sessions for brief skills training before surgery to approximately 16 sessions to address more complex issues surrounding the personal, physical, social, and occupational impact of the illness on you and your lifestyle. Regardless of the treatment plan we develop, you will have an active role in every step of your treatment.

Our patient-centered treatment:

• Complements and builds upon your standard medical care and improves your ability to get better and feel better
• Is customized to your needs and concerns rather than those of preset treatment programs or groups
• Builds upon skills and knowledge you already have
• Enables you to be as focused or as comprehensive as you’d like in your treatment goals.

These services are not offered as an alternative to ongoing medical care.

Research has demonstrated that patients have better health outcomes when they have integrated healthcare and take an active role in their treatment.

Methods

To achieve these objectives, I use:

• Biofeedback
• Cognitive Behavioral Treatment
• Eye Movement Desensitizaton and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Insight-oriented psychotherapy
• Psychological testing
• Relaxation Training / Self-hypnosis