Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis

Psychotherapy is a joint process. You and your therapist will work together to identify patterns and experiences that have been negatively affecting you. By reflecting on your own thoughts and feelings you can increase self awareness and begin to live a more satisfying and genuine life.  This process often includes exploring some childhood experiences and relational dynamics that continue to play out in your life today. While most psychotherapy hinges on communication between the therapist and the individual, it is much more than talking about your problems. While family or friends can help you feel better or even provide good advice for change, this is not psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is a professional relationship between a therapist and a client that is based on therapeutic principles, structure, and technique.

Therapists are trained to understand what you say and what you don’t. They pay attention to body language, tone, and words to fully understand your speech, helping to identify aspects of yourself which you may not be fully aware.

Psychoanalytic treatment sometimes grows out of psychotherapy. It usually requires meeting multiple times a week and is a more intense version of psychotherapy. By the nature of coming multiple times a week you will have the opportunity to bring unconscious material to consciousness and analyze aspects of your personality that you may not understand fully.  It is common during this process to analyze and explore dreams, fantasies, and link childhood experiences to current relationships including the one you will develop with your therapist. Gaining insights is a major step that will help you modify crippling life patterns and expand your freedom to work and love. It is a myth that the more times you come to therapy the more troubled you are. Engaging in a deep process like psychoanalysis depends on many things including your desire to work on yourself this way and resources available to you. It can be a very rewarding process that often changes people in deep and abiding ways.

Trauma Treatment

Traumatic experiences, whether they appear to be big or small, can have a lasting affect on the people who experience them. Trauma can include but is not limited to almost anything that threatens someone’s well being such as abuse (physical, verbal and sexual), violence, victimization, car accidents, traumatic death of a loved one, terrorism, and abandonment. Common reactions to these events may include: trouble sleeping or eating, isolation, inability to focus, and constant fearfulness or fearlessness. Many people find themselves jumpy or jittery, overuse substances, feel unreal or foggy, experience depression or anger, and struggle with intimacy. These are all normal reactions to abnormal events and are reasons to seek help.

When working with people who have experienced trauma I focus on developing a safe place where patients can feel free to express themselves emotionally and know they will not be judged or blamed for their experience and their reaction to it. There are a number of ways that therapy can help with trauma which includes talking, learning how to regulate feelings through developing relaxation and coping skills, and understanding the mind-body connection. Pacing can be a very important part of treatment; sometimes sessions will feel light and other times difficult. Most important I always want patients to feel supported through this brave endeavor. I believe an empathic relationship is essential to the healing process. 

Creative Arts Therapy

Art therapy is often misunderstood and thought of as a treatment used only for children but that is not the case. It is a modality used in therapy that can help someone to express themselves when words are not enough. Art therapy can be a treatment of choice or used in conjunction with talk therapy. No particular talent or creative skills are needed to engage in this work. Art Therapy uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well being of individuals of all ages. It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self esteem, and achieve insight.

Art therapists are trained professionals and often artists themselves. They are knowledgeable about human development, psychological theories, clinical practice, spiritual, multicultural and artistic traditions, and the healing potential of art. Sometimes art is created in session and sometimes it is created at home and brought to session.

The arts stimulate the imagination, problem solving abilities, and creativity. Art Therapy combines the arts and psychology, and taps into human beings’ natural needs to communicate in non-verbal ways. Many times, experiences that cannot be verbalized are projected into art forms that are experienced in new and different ways, and are reframed and restructured for healing, growth, and wellness. Expressive arts can provide a quicker and sometimes more gentle way of getting at the issues that keep a person from fully functioning. Art taps into experiences buried deep within the unconscious, cellular memories, and trauma that occurred on a preverbal level.

Art therapy is often a therapy of choice for children and can also be very helpful when dealing trauma. 

Overview of Services

Insurance & Costs

Please contact me to discuss session or workshop rates. Heather Genovese is not a participating provider in any insurance networks but may be covered under out of network benefits.  Cash, Check, Credit Card and Paypal are all accepted.