Welcome to my practice's website!
Please be aware that I offer both online and face to face sessions (please note that online sessions have shown to be as effective as face to face ones). Contact me to discuss your preference and availability.
Also I am very excited to communicate that I will be operating from a different office starting July! Look up the new address on the "location and contact information" page.
Hello, welcome to my website and thank you for your visit.
I am a licensed clinical psychologist and I work in my own private practice, in the Sacramento area, as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor.
Last year I was trying to convey to one of my interns how I conceive of my practice, and I found myself using the term "boutique", to describe my work and business style. It entails a specialized, person-oriented approach focused on quality rather than quantity. When you come to me for help, you will find that to be the case: you will experience a personalized care approach, that is unique to your own needs and goals.
That also means that I do not accept more than a certain number of patients, overall, nor I schedule more than a certain number of appointments each week. This is because I want to be as certain as I can to offer the best possible help to you; as for any quality endeavor, that requires dedicated time, focus, and specialized-to-your-needs attention.
This may explain why I refer to my work as a calling, rather than a profession (which by the way was described by Freud as "the impossible profession". I take that as referring to the complete dedication one needs to have for it, in order to do it well.) And let me just say that, in the managed health care environment we work and live, working the way that is meaningful to me, and helpful to you, may present special challenges! (Never the less, I am completely committed to give it my best!)
Now... let me tell you more about how I work!
First, type of population: I love working with younger and older adults, individuals and couples.
I am fundamentally a depth therapist, yet able to adapt and effectively respond to the diverse demands of contemporary psychological treatment's needs; hence I am able to offer different types and courses of therapy, including focused, shorter-term treatments, such as stress reduction and meditation (also offered in group format), somatic treatment for trauma, behavioral health coaching, and a variety of other behavioral programs targeted to meet your specific needs and desires.
In addition, I am one of the few psychologists in the area offering psychotherapy-based, integrative and holistic treatment for psychotic and bipolar disorders, as well as for other persistent, hard to treat, psycho-emotional disturbances, including severe depression and anxiety. Generally, I do not support biopsychiatry, the main current model used to "treat" mental/emotional issues, and the ongoing prescription of psychoactive medications. I believe this model is highly inaccurate, has gravely failed those who need help, and, most importantly, harmed a great deal of people. However, I do offer supportive psychotherapy for patients who do take psychiatric medications for the long-term, as well as for those who are interested in working toward decreasing their dosage and/or withdraw from them (please note: to withdraw form psychiatric medication is a very serious matter, and a process needing ongoing, careful and attentive medical monitoring and support).
My belief is that anyone can get better and start healing, no matter what life situation one is experiencing. Would you decide to enter psychological treatment with me, I will provide you with the safe environment, tools, support and guidance needed for you to grow and enjoy more freedom of thoughts and emotions and a fuller, more satisfying and meaningful life. By accepting what is, the first step is taken toward constructive change.
What is Psychotherapy?
If we asked this question 100 years ago, the answer would have been much more straightforward than it can ever be now. Born as psychoanalysis, based on free association, dream interpretation and interpretation of transference, psychotherapy has evolved to be conceptualized in a variety of different ways, by different therapists.
My basic therapy style is influenced by my upbringing and education in Italy as well as my life experiences, my American education as a doctor of clinical psychology, my ongoing reading in philosophy, psychology and spirituality and my ongoing practice of Meditation.
I view psychotherapy treatment as a committed endeavor involving equally committed people, the therapist and the client(s), who choose to meet regularly, for a meaningful period of time, and encounter each other in a most authentic and genuine fashion, in the unique safety and intimacy of the therapeutic relationship and therapy space. I believe that one of the underlying purposes of treatment is to engage in a process of self-knowledge with someone we trust and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with, and hence really be "seen", just as we are.
This dynamic may also shed light on the less manifest ways in which we communicate and behave, within ourselves as well as with others. To gain a more intimate awareness of how we operate at these levels makes us aware of our "blind spots", or those non-verbal messages that may communicate other than what we consciously intend to communicate, perhaps undermining a valuable purpose or a relationship we value.
Gaining this kind of awareness helps making the decision to change unwanted patterns of thoughts and behavior more effective. That entails the acceptance of how things are, in the here and now. The next step is willingness to do something about what we wish to improve. In this context, there are many different treatment approaches that can be adopted, that vary according to each client's needs, goals and desires, as well as the length of time that can be devoted to treatment.
My basic therapy style is influenced by my upbringing and education in Italy as well as my life experiences, my American education as a doctor of clinical psychology, my ongoing reading in philosophy, psychology and spirituality and my ongoing practice of Meditation.
I view psychotherapy treatment as a committed endeavor involving equally committed people, the therapist and the client(s), who choose to meet regularly, for a meaningful period of time, and encounter each other in a most authentic and genuine fashion, in the unique safety and intimacy of the therapeutic relationship and therapy space. I believe that one of the underlying purposes of treatment is to engage in a process of self-knowledge with someone we trust and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with, and hence really be "seen", just as we are.
This dynamic may also shed light on the less manifest ways in which we communicate and behave, within ourselves as well as with others. To gain a more intimate awareness of how we operate at these levels makes us aware of our "blind spots", or those non-verbal messages that may communicate other than what we consciously intend to communicate, perhaps undermining a valuable purpose or a relationship we value.
Gaining this kind of awareness helps making the decision to change unwanted patterns of thoughts and behavior more effective. That entails the acceptance of how things are, in the here and now. The next step is willingness to do something about what we wish to improve. In this context, there are many different treatment approaches that can be adopted, that vary according to each client's needs, goals and desires, as well as the length of time that can be devoted to treatment.
