Therapy Approach

My threefold approach is based in the common factors which lead to psychological change:

1. Deep insight into the past

2. Practical change in the present

3. Skillful tools to sustain a more optimistic future

Below is an articulation of the methods I use

Psychodynamics

Go beyond managing symptoms to explore the deeper patterns shaping how you think, feel, relate, and move through the world.

Patterns That Repeat

Identifying themes that repeatedly show up in relationships, emotions, and choices.

Market Price

What Lies Beneath

Explore unconscious fears, wishes, conflicts, and motivations that may quietly influence your thoughts and behavior.

$20

Recognizing Defenses and Avoidance

Noticing how people protect themselves from difficult feelings or experiences.

$19

Past & Present

Discover how formative experiences and early relationships continue to shape the way you experience yourself and others today.

$21

Emotional Depth

Develop a deeper understanding of your emotional life, creating greater self-awareness and more freedom in how you respond.

$22

Relationships as Insight (optional)

Use the therapeutic relationship itself as a meaningful space for recognizing interpersonal patterns and developing healthier ways of connecting.

$28

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Structured, goal-oriented approach that helps you identify unhelpful patterns, test new ways of thinking and behaving, and build practical skills you can use outside the therapy room.

Notice the Thought

Learn to catch automatic thoughts and assumptions that can amplify anxiety, stress, self-criticism, or low mood.

$120

Test the Evidence

Rather than accepting every thought as fact, CBT helps examine what is accurate, distorted, and how alternate perspectives can be adapted.

$95

Change the Behavior

Identify habits such as avoidance, withdrawal, reassurance-seeking, or procrastination that may keep problems going—and practice more effective responses.

$135

Face What You Avoid

Gradually approach feared or uncomfortable situations so that anxiety has less control over your choices.

$105

Build Practical Skills

Develop concrete strategies for problem-solving, emotion regulation, communication, stress management, and coping with difficult situations.

$250

Practice, Review, Adjust

Use exercises, behavioral experiments, and real-world practice between sessions to see what works, learn from the results, and make lasting changes.

$160

Mindfulness Training

Mindfulness is the practice of meeting your experience more directly—with greater attention, openness, and less automatic judgment. In therapy you will develop a steadier relationship with your thoughts and emotions, creating more space to choose how you respond to daily situations.

Grounding and Self-Acceptance

Mindfulness begins by learning to stop, settle, and experience yourself as you are. Through attention to the breath, body, and present moment, you can develop greater steadiness and a less judgmental relationship with your inner experience.

Recognizing 'Protective' Habits

With greater awareness, you begin to notice the automatic habits that shape your reactions—avoidance, self-criticism, defensiveness, rumination, or the impulse to withdraw from discomfort.

Courageous Engagement

Mindfulness is not simply about becoming calm. It can help you remain present when life is uncomfortable, allowing you to approach difficult conversations, decisions, emotions, and experiences with greater courage and intention.

Openness & Connection

As reactivity decreases, there is more room for curiosity, empathy, and genuine connection. Mindfulness can help you listen more closely, communicate more openly, and remain emotionally present with yourself and others.

Spacious Awareness

With practice, thoughts and emotions can be experienced without becoming completely defined by them. This broader awareness creates greater perspective, flexibility, and freedom to choose how you respond.

Cultivating Vitality

Mindfulness can also help you reconnect with energy, confidence, and a sense of forward movement. Through attention to posture, breath, and embodied presence, you can practice meeting life with greater openness and courage—especially during periods of self-doubt, depletion, or hesitation.

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Cherkasky Counseling

Therapy Approach

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