Welcome,

Psychotherapy is a means to know oneself.

Our emotions are meant to be signals that guide us through life, like the sense of touch, that lets us know what’s hot or cold. Emotions are useful as signals, when we can identify and understand what and why we feel what we feel. However, if we experience our emotions, as unpleasant and overwhelming, as flooding and difficult to identify and only vaguely understood, if at all, then they cannot be used as signals, based on the innovative work of Henry Krystal, M.D. described in his book Integration & Self-Healing, affect, trauma, alexithymia.

We continuously take in far more information through our senses from our surrounding environments, than we can consciously process in our minds, based on John Jonides, Ph.D., lectures on Cognition & Perception at the University of Michigan. We do this from the beginning of our existence to the present. We may attempt to try to completely forget certain situations or events that were unpleasant and overwhelming, but it is an impossibility. Like a computer, nothing can be fully erased from our brains.

Although, we may attempt to erase from our minds unpleasant and overwhelming emotional events or situations, we do so by separating the emotions from the event or situation that provoke them. It is possible to keep them out of our conscious awareness; however, the strength of their emotional impact remains unconsciously alive. They remain a group of undefined and often conflicting emotions all rolled into one unpleasant sensation that disrupts the forward movement of our lives, to love, and to work. This kind of disruption is allowed to continue until we take the initiative and find the courage to fully know ourselves, the pleasant and the unpleasant and everything in between, as based on the groundbreaking work of Sigmund Freud, M.D..

Many different perspectives in psychology study the various aspects of human behavior, in the attempt to understand the complexities of the human mind. They include the psychoanalytic, developmental, cognitive behavioral, biopsychology, neuropsychology, social psychology, and organizational psychology. These psychological perspectives are important in understanding the psychology of a person and are most beneficial when integrated in a psychoanalytic approach. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy combined with the essential insights of these approaches is most respectful of the individuality of the person. It is the process of understanding the complexities and uniqueness of each individual. It is this profound reverence and respect for the individuality of each human being that is the essential therapeutic element in psychotherapy treatment.

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If you are interested in psychotherapy, whatever your reason, I am willing to discuss it with you, by calling 248-921-3249.

Psychotherapy is a process that is different for everyone, however, like anything worthwhile in life, it requires a commitment and a willingness to be honest, for anyone to engage in this process.

The decision in choosing a therapist is an important one. In general, most psychotherapists work with the person willing to invest time and effort in psychotherapy in making this decision.

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LLP* - Michigan Limited License which permits practice under the supervision of Dr. Howard Erman, Ph.D, a Michigan Licensed Psychologist.

 

  

“Know Thyself”

Thales, (The Seven Sages) from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosopher.

“This above all: To thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day; Thou canst not then be false to any one.”

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), ‘Hamlet,' Act I, Scene iii.

“... First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s [sister’s, neighbor’s] eye.”

Luke 6:42