"I'd rather teach a skill than prescribe a pill, but I will."

I have been in private practice since 1996 when I graduated from my Western Psychiatry residency at the University of California, Irvine. In reality, my holistic training and thinking began in 1987, the year I began my studies in osteopathic medical school in Michigan. A significant amount of healing practices I use and teach, I learned outside of my medical school and psychiatry training as I tried to answer the question for myself and others "What is Holistic Psychiatry, what is the MIND and how does it heal?" Now I seek to integrate the best of western medicine's evidence-based practices (especially Lifestyle Medicine) with transformational healing practices of the Eastern spiritual traditions, shamanism (the oldest healing profession our planet has known), transpersonal psychology, C. G. Jung's conceptualizations of archetypes and shadow, and depth psychology's work with the deepest, existential layer of the psyche. My practice philosophy has been deeply influenced by Ken Wilber's Integral theory and Osteopathic philosophy's belief in the body's innate ability to heal itself. All the while asking the question and observing, how does all of this apply to the mind and disorders of mental health. Finally, as a 25 year long committed spiritual practice unfolded, I have been asking the question, is there a God, Goddess, spirit in this process of healing and evolution? If so, will science ever validate it and how do we engage this crucial aspect to produce Mind-Body-Spirit Healing? 

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My Business is called Holistic Change Strategies because over the years I have evolved a system of using holistic, non-medication strategies for healing. I found it to be a piece of artwork to apply these strategies to each unique patient INDIVIDUALLY. Although many clinicians now support regular exercise programs for our bodies, very few of us consistently schedule daily exercise for our minds, brains, and emotions, much less creativity workouts. Working with me is an opportunity to enter into what I affectionately refer to as "The Mind Gym!" Welcome to my Mind Gym!

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I am an Osteopath, tried and true, deep down into my bones. I have the rebel archetype on my archetypal team which gives me the courage and strength to see and move away from old traditions and dogmas into new and uncharted areas. He is comfortable with uncertainty and NOT KNOWING. When I graduated from my residency program a quarter of a century ago and hung up my shingle as a "holistic psychiatrist" I had little clue what I was doing. There were no mentors I could find doing what my heart was telling me to do. Back then, I only found one "Holistic Psychiatrist" practicing in Florida and for some odd reason could never get a hold of him by phone! I have always said to patients "I have been flying by the seat of my pants, figuring it out as I go along. There is no script to read on how to help you heal but we'll figure it out together." This is what I have always found in my work with patients! The answers show themselves one step at a time, one bread crumb down the path at a time."

 

I am not a pill pusher or simply a psychopharmacologist, I have more in my medicine bag than a prescription pad!

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I have paid for and received weekly psychotherapy supervision and mentorship since my second year of residency training. For my most challenging cases, I have always sought out wise counsel as I also have "The Seeker" on my archetypal team. This Seeker seems to have good karma as I have been lucky over the years to have found great supervisors, mentors, guides, and spiritual teachers. My Seeker is a perpetual student. At the moment, I am not sad to say, he is on a ventilator in the ICU as I am on a sabbatical from all the seeking. He is integrating 20+ years of searching outside myself for answers and is committed to awakening the "Guru Within!"  

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To ensure therapeutic results in my practice, I have used Scott Miller Ph.D.'s system he developed at The Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change. This "SRS/ORS" pre and post-session rating method measures the results of our sessions and develops "a culture of feedback" in my practice where you have a voice (and are asked to use it EACH session) regarding what works and doesn't work for you. This practice develops a dialogue by which our sessions are tailored to your needs. I have used this system of tracking the scores/grades/results of each session for about 15 years and have found it invaluable for making my practice "evidence-based." 

 

I offer a RELATIONSHIP not a once a month 10-15 minute prescription session. At the start of our work together I request a DAILY text message check-in that provides AT THE BEGINNING  a "System of Accountability." The INTENTION here is to RAISE CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS/MINDFULNESS of the steps you are taking on the path, good or bad, so eventually, you access CHOICE to use your personal power to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY to move toward your goals.

 

Walk your Talk! My "Healer Heal Thyself" path and my "Lead by Example" dedication. To me, to have INTEGRITY as a "fellow traveler" and guide, you have to have traveled down the path of healing yourself and not just read about it in books and just taken workshops on what you are learning or offering to patients. You need to put it to use in your own body/mind! You only know how hard what you are asking patients to do is if you have struggled with it yourself. My own long term self-healing path has humbled me, has helped me to have patience with and compassion for your struggles. I feel I can for example help you with your Saboteur archetypal committee member because I have and still do tangle/dance a tango with my own! It is only in my 25th year in practice that I even found the Light/Positive side to this archetype! I also pride myself on my willingness to do Shadow Work, i.e. bring ascepts of my self into the light for integration and balancing.