Our Approach
We’ll be guided by one key question…
How to move toward a richer and more meaningful life?
The Predictor of Human Struggle
I can tell you the predictor of human struggle – it’s psychological inflexibility. Regardless of the psychiatric disorder, psychological is PREDICTIVE of future psychopathology, regardless of the disorder.
Psychological flexibility is the key to mental health and resilience to human suffering. And if you’re reading this page (whether you have a psychological disorder or not), you are experiencing some kind of suffering.
Pain is… normal. You have tried many things that have not helped. What was the cost to your life and vitality? Are you moving towards a bigger, more vibrant life, or are you just stuck vacillating between trying to fix the pain and avoiding it?
Reading self-help and binging Ben and Jerry’s – this is not working. The funny thing is that your brain is designed to do just what you have been doing… attempting to fix it. But as you step back, what do you notice?
Here you are with sage advice from a “guru” and an increasing waistline, and the struggle is still here.
Psychological Flexibility
Psychological flexibility is the ability to be in the present moment, unhook from difficult thoughts and feelings, clarify what matters most, and take effective steps toward your goals.
You might think of this as yoga for your brain. This is the approach embraced by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Mind-Body Connection
Working with me, we will get you out of the mental games and into your life. A key component is to leverage the mind-body connection. At the Center for Intention and Focus (Center), my comprehensive approach integrates neurofeedback, biofeedback, sleep optimization, and evidenced-based psychotherapy practices. This combination of interventions improves your odds of making the changes you most want. As you implement these changes, you will likely notice changes in your alertness, energy, focus, motivation, and enjoyment of life.
A wealth of information suggests that just taking a pill does not deliver the rich and vibrant life you are looking for in treatment. Often changes require a multi-modal approach to change. You gain access to a partner to make these changes at the Center. These tools improve neurological flexibility and life vitality. A healthy brain is a flexible brain; as you improve your brain, you improve your life.
Optimizing Health
Your psychological and physical health are one. We at the Center are keenly aware of the importance of improving your physical health to improve your mental health. We take time to consider any medical conditions that may lead to mental health impairments, and at the Center, we consider aspects such as lack of exercise, chronic stress, lack of sleep, and poor diet.
All the prior aspects can be reflected in the QEEG. In a desire to maximize your well-being we are happy to coordinate our efforts with your physician(s). Moreover, we specialize in helping you set goals, connect with your motivation for changes, and help you get across the finish line to make the changes that will positively affect your life.
Mindfulness
Through mindfulness, you’ll learn to connect to your immediate environment, gain more accurate feedback about what is working and what is not, and move with greater intention toward what matters to you. As one client put it, we gave him a “present moment toolbox.”
In a nutshell, here’s what we’ll do…
We’ll begin with a robust questionnaire you fill out online about your physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
We’ll then schedule a 1.5-hour meeting to take a 360-degree look at your life and further clarify your goals.
You will map out what you want most and make concrete plans for moving your life forward. You will also learn about how your brain relates to your experiences and have the opportunity to improve your brain’s health through neurofeedback (and other options).
We’ll then meet weekly as you implement, revise, and progress through your change plan.
The ultimate goal is to equip you to approach challenges from a different place—a place that is centered, focused, and based on intentional living.
What kind of care and service can you expect?
Accepting
One of the challenges we all have is being willing to start where we are today. Often that means choosing to start from a place we would prefer NOT be located. For example, if I am walking into the doctor 30 pounds overweight, can I be willing to start at 30 pounds overweight (not 10 pounds ago or two months ago)?
There is power in choosing to show up to this moment. This is the moment we have the power to change. The paradox is that change is much easier when we accept our circumstances and ourselves.
Holistic
We take a 360-degree look at you and your life. Going beyond treatment as usual, we look at how your brain is firing, consider your personality traits, and value the context of your life. Combining these understandings gives us a holistic picture of how these challenges “hurt” as well as considering your strengths to move forward.
Further, we want to get all areas of your life moving in the right direction – not just your psychology, but your sleep, diet, exercise, play, etc. The body uses many examples of the interrelatedness of the mind and body. For example, the insula (a small portion of the brain in the salience network) lights up when we feel both moral disgust and when we are exposed to rotten food. Depression is normal for a physically ill individual. If you are unaware of the interrelatedness of mind and body, our interventions leave much more to chance and are less likely to be helpful.
Comprehensive
We’ll get to know you and your situation—IN DEPTH. From this place of awareness and connection, we will partner to help you map out and execute moves towards what matters most to you, looking at your brain, personality, context, and psychology. We take the time to look for root causes and implement tools that help you create Real Change.
Present
The major outcome of mindfulness is the ability to connect in the present moment. Mindfulness helps you to become more engaged and create a more focused and intentional life. Learning to come back to this moment is a major skill you will develop in our work, and we will practice in session together.
Some of the tools we might use…
Individual Therapy
In individual therapy, you will walk away knowing your value and learn how to return to the present moment. You’ll also develop skills to create space with difficult thoughts and feelings and have the freedom to approach difficult thoughts and feelings when it is of service to you. This therapy process can also help you tap into your motivations for change, clarify barriers to the life you want, and allow you to be more connected to those you love and, most of all yourself.
Neurofeedback (Brain Mapping)
Whether you are struggling with ADHD, anxiety, depression, sleep issues, or just want to optimize your life or performance, you can choose to have your brain mapped with a quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG). The first step in the neurofeedback process, this brain map improves your understanding of your brain and how it functions. For additional detail, I welcome you to read my page on neurofeedback.
Personality Assessment
We offer the NEO-PI, the gold standard of personality assessments, and help explain your personality based on the Five Factor Model or Big 5. The Five-Factor Model of personality is the culmination of nearly 70 years of personality research. The NEO-PI can help make you more aware of your tendencies and how you view the world. This knowledge can help you accentuate your strengths and manage areas of challenge in your work and relationships.
ADHD Assessment
We can do that for you if you are looking for ADHD assessment for diagnosis (but not for IEP/ 504 accommodations). The process includes a diagnostic interview, brain map, personality assessment, psychological assessments, and a list of medical conditions to have your physician rule out so that you can approach ADHD treatment confidently (and much more self-knowledge). Please feel free to read my page on ADHD Assessment for more information.
Let’s move you from surviving to thriving!
You have tried fixing it for a long-time. I invite you to take a different approach. Together, we will help you get out of this word machine that has you trapped and take effective actions to move your life forward.
Are you ready for a different approach to this human struggle?
Call today. Let’s revitalize your life! (832) 831-0178