Two sides, same coin.
Therapy & medication in one place.
Studies show that the combination of medication and psychotherapy is better than either one alone.
Simply taking medication doesn’t shift the psychological patterns underneath symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma. But psychotherapy alone sometimes cannot gain traction when the symptom load is too high. Together, these modalities compliment each other, with medication supporting the conditions where insight can take root and heal the psyche at a fundamental level. (Cuijpers 2020, Pampallona 2004)
I remember sitting on the floor playing with my young daughter, trying to hide my tears after reading some doomer climate article, and looking at her and thinking, “What have I done?” I wanted to talk about how terrified I felt, but I worried I would fall into a dark emotional pit and never crawl out.
Then at a conference, I randomly attended a ritual called the Truth Mandala and learned about Joanna Macy and The Work That Reconnects. Finally, a framework that helped me access my fear, rage, and grief in a way that felt energizing instead of devastating.
Therapy for everyone!
Therapy is time and space to pause and reflect on who you are and who you want to be.
What are the advantages of combined treatment?
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Rather than having separate appointments for medication and therapy and hoping those people talk to each other, you can consolidate your treatment with one person. One payment, one system, one time signing all the annoying paperwork. I’m happy to coordinate with your primary care doctor or another important person or provider.
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It is possible prescribe effectively to people I do not see for therapy, but if I’m meeting with you weekly and learning about the nuances of your symptoms and experiences, I can see things I wouldn’t otherwise, and the medications can be adjusted more responsively. It is the opposite of prescribing by checklist.
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Treatment is more than the sum of its parts; the various aspects amplify each other. Medication helps therapy work better and therapy helps medication work better. Just like mind and body aren’t separate, neither are therapy and medication. It’s a unified approach so it can be nice to have it all “under one roof.” Medication can become a topic of therapy itself—you may have complex feelings about taking it, including internalized stigma. You may have had negative experiences with medication or psychiatrists in the past that need to be understood.
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There are so many options. Therapy without meds. Meds without therapy. Therapy and meds both with me. Meds with me and therapy with another therapist. You don’t have to fit in a predetermined box; rather, we can tailor the treatment to fit you and your preferences.
Are psychiatrists really trained to do therapy?
Good question. Many are not, and psychiatry as a field has moved away from psychotherapy to focus on medication and interventions like transcranial magnetic stimulation. But I still see psychotherapy as the heart of psychiatry.
I chose my residency program specifically because they emphasized psychotherapy. We started seeing therapy patients in our second year and worked one-on-one with supervisors to guide our development as therapists. My fourth year, I spent two days a week training at the San Francisco Jung Institute.
After completing residency, I joined a group practice dedicated to giving psychiatrists the opportunity to offer psychotherapy. We had monthly case consultation, semi-annual in-depth trainings, and a community of like-minded physicians who valued therapy.
Now in my own practice, I continue to seek out consultation, education, and colleague support. Being in therapy myself teaches me ever more about its value and ensures I can show up sustainably for my patients.
My psychotherapy style
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So much of how we feel is based on the stories we tell ourselves about what happened and why. But there are multiple ways to tell a valid story about the same events. One aspect of psychotherapy is questioning our current stories and exploring alternatives. When we update the narrative around traumas, we don’t erase them, but we carry them differently. Some stories feel so shameful they have never been shared. I hope to create a space where the unspoken can be spoken so that you’re supported and not alone with it anymore.
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Life comes with some big questions about how to live meaningfully. How do we go about our day knowing that life is unpredictable? Therapy can be a place to explore human dilemmas around the nature of existence. If you’re anxious about driving, we can explore how it might relate to anxiety about death. Smaller anxieties—about driving, socializing, tests—are often related to larger anxieties about identity, life/death, and lack of control.
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Liberation psychology considers the la. If you feel like you are failing at work, we consider what it takes to succeed within capitalism.
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Humor is the spoon full of sugar that makes the trauma-processing go down. If we can laugh together, healing is happening. We can all use some well-timed lightness to balance the heavy topics, right? I don’t joke around to avoid the pain; rather, I see shared humor as connection, safety, and perspective.
You can have a one-stop shop for mental health care.
Click here to set up an introductory call. We can start the conversation about what treatments may be right for you.