About Therapy
So… what’s this all about?
If you have been in therapy before, you might find some interesting and unexpected changes.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I do NOT like unexpected changes.
So, let me give you a heads up.
Here’s something you might not expect…
No matter how much I like and care about you, I don’t want you to work with me for years. Preferably, not even for months. (My son, who runs a business and makes ten times more than me, tells me that I have a lousy business model.)
I will ask you to do a lot of work to change your life in the way you want. But you’re the captain, and I am the navigator.
And here’s the truth: You need the best navigator in the industry.
Here’s what I mean by that…
You decide where you want to go.
You can even say if we are going too fast or too slow. I am there to show you the best route to your goal, point out the challenges, and supply you with the tools you need.
When I am your navigator, you will get the most comprehensive, thorough partnership that can only come with decades of experience and learning the ropes.
And YOU will let me know how I’m doing…
…in a technical, objective way.
First, we’ll do a quick survey before and after each session – something that lets me know about the intensity of your emotions before and after we work together that day.
I’ll also allow you to evaluate every one of our sessions. Keep my feet to the fire!
The skills you learn in therapy will be what makes you feel better.
I mean, let’s face it: It’s unlikely that just seeing my face will do it. If that happens, you probably really are crazy!
No… what’s going to make the difference is what you learn in therapy.
I will teach you how to record the incidents that upset you and what’s going on in your mind at the time that keeps you upset.
That’s part of retraining your brain, and you’ll need to do daily exercises to drill the skills that will turn your life from miserable to joyful.
Every session begins with my efforts to express 100% empathy.
I will persist until you can tell me that you feel 100% understood and there is nothing else you want to get off your chest. Only then do we begin the work of changing the patterns that your mind is using to drag you into the mud.
Because people do not work well in pain, venting and empathy MUST be successful. That usually takes at least 45 minutes. So, if you want really effective and efficient therapy, you can have sessions last at least 100 minutes. Longer sessions improve the chances of extremely significant and lasting improvements.
Two-hour sessions are 4x more effective than the traditional 50-minute session. Three-hour sessions are 6X more effective.
My greatest joy in life is seeing people get better quickly.
About Me
I decided to become a psychologist 50 years ago.
That means I was 17 years old! My greatest pleasure in life has always been helping people live a fulfilling life.
My undergraduate degree is in Psychology. I served in the psychology unit of the IDF; I researched at the Technion in Israel; I worked with children, adults, and geriatric; patients and trained in many schools of therapy. It has been my life.
It has been a long journey for me…
… learning how to guide people effectively and efficiently.
When I started doing psychology in the 1970s, it was normal for therapy sessions to last three hours, three days a week, for 30 years! (By the way, that model was developed long before because Freud was afraid of becoming destitute.)
I’ve learned many ways of doing this work, including behaviorism, humanism, family systems, short-term this, that and the other, manualized cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and various other “alphabet soups” of therapy.
About eight years ago, though, I discovered TEAM-CBT. Over the decades, I found that every new school of therapy was just as inefficient as the rest of them. I was really skeptical about TEAM-CBT.
I learned that TEAM-CBT is not a school of therapy; rather, it’s a framework that integrates all the effective aspects of good therapy.
I practice the skills daily and consult with the most skilled therapists in the world… because I want you to feel good FAST.
My greatest joy in life is seeing people get better quickly.
I have enjoyed seeing hundreds of people gain (or regain) joy in their lives.
Last week, I finished working with a woman who was so anxious about failing that she would break down multiple times a day from minor stresses (for instance, she fell apart when she could not find the right color pen).
That was six weeks ago. Today, she is joyful and confident.
When I’m not doing therapy…
What about fun things? Photography. I love the creative process. (Some of my photography is on this website. If you search, you can find my photography on the Internet.)
I enjoy all sorts of music (but my age sometimes gets in the way). Dancing at home with my wife. The best is spending time with some of our 19 grandchildren (but not all at once!)
You know you deserve the best.
Your family deserves to have you at your best.
Let’s talk. I would like to be the best for you and let you reap the benefits of my knowledge and experience. We can decide together if I am a good fit for you.
Call me at (973) 944-0274. You won’t be disappointed.