Recurrent emotional pain is a call to something essential that is difficult to contact. 

That difficulty comes from ingrained patterns of dissociation that we learned in order to preserve connection. In formative times, certain feelings were unsafe for us to express and we learned to hide these parts from others and even from ourselves. That was once a survival strategy, but now deprives us of ease, energy, and belonging. ​​

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In psychoanalytic psychotherapy, we address suffering through growth. A carefully attuned relationship supports us to become aware of challenging and hidden states. Together, we listen to moods, beliefs, associations, fantasies, memories, dreams, and the body. We discover in each painful or confusing part of ourselves something important about who we are and what is possible. Expanding our awareness empowers us to transform fundamental patterns and realize a new freedom and peace.​