INFORMATION ABOUT MY PRACTICE

Located in central San Rafael, I conduct a general psychotherapy practice for individual adults. I have provided direct psychotherapeutic services in various clinical and hospital settings since 1981 and have been serving clients in independent practice since 1992. I see people who seek help for a wide range of presenting problems such as depression, malaise, anxiety, loss, relationship impasses and difficult life transitions, or a desire to seek a seasoned and empathic ally when meaning or purpose have become elusive or lost from view. I am experienced working with people who have felt constricted or defeated by chronic difficulties in relating to others. I also have extensive experience working with people who have a history of more severe psychological problems such as deeply-rooted patterns of difficulty meeting the challenges of life or tapping into and exercising their internal resources.


ABOUT MY APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY

My approach is guided centrally by, but not limited to, Jungian and contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives. I hold that emotional suffering points us toward the landscape of our private struggles, emotional injuries and vulnerabilities, but vitally also to intrinsic pathways toward self-restoration and healing. I invite my clients to listen with me to these communications from within, to take courage from them, and discover ways to translate them into guideposts for change toward greater resilience, balance, authenticity and confidence in encountering the ever-challenging ebbs and flows of life. Old narratives born of duress or trauma can be invested with new meaning and no longer felt to be oppressive predictors of the future. It strikes me as always useful to hold in mind that to heal means to become whole (again, or in some cases for the first time).

I emphasize self-reflective exploration, intrapsychic and interpersonal process, thoughtfulness, emotional depth, and the search for meaning. I listen keenly to what my clients' symptoms of emotional and related physical suffering are trying to communicate -- often through analogy, metaphor or symbol. I attend closely to the therapeutic relationship that forms between my clients and myself as an important source of understanding and guidance along the way, and I encourage the integration of dreamwork where appropriate. I tend to be comparatively active in therapeutic style and highly flexible in adapting to clients' psychological needs and interpersonal rhythms.

I hold strongly that trust, respect, safety, and integrity must be essential elements in psychotherapy, and, crucially, that in the heart of psychic pain lie the seeds of restoration.

Services
-Psychoanalytically Informed Psychotherapy for Individual Adults
-Contemporary Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives
-Long-term Exploratory and Time-Limited Approaches
-Consultation for professionals, including cases involving complex mental states and processes
Areas of Expertise
Individual Psychotherapy for Adults:
-Anxiety
-Depression
-Problems with relationships and intimacy
-Problems with social adaptation
-Distress associated with life-transitions
-Personal growth and self-exploration
-Dreamwork
-Longstanding maladaptive interpersonal patterns
-Anomalous symptoms/experiences and their potential communicative and restorative meanings

Office Information:

PAYMENT:
My practice is fee-for-service. To maximize the confidentiality of private disclosures in therapy and to ensure the autonomy of the psychotherapeutic process, insurance is not accepted.

STATEMENTS:
are gladly provided for out-of-plan insurance reimbursement.

ACCESSIBILITY:
My office is wheelchair accessible in an ADA compliant professional building.

PARKING:
Free on-site parking is available.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:
Marin Transit/Line 45 stops approximately 2 blocks away; the San Rafael Transit Center is 5 blocks away.



CONTACT:
I encourage a telephone conversation prior to setting up a first appointment to ensure that I am able to provide, with a high probability, the kind of service that you are seeking.

tel: 415.457.6234
email: drphilipalex-contact@yahoo.com

I welcome your inquiry and thank you for your interest.