About My Practice
Since 1991, I have been treating psychiatric and psychoanalytic patients in my private office setting. I am a trained psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Keeping in mind the strengths of the person, I tailor treatment to his or her specific needs.
I was trained at Duke and UNC in the Bio-Psycho-Social model of treatment, so I work by looking into biological, psychological, and social areas of life. I help people deal with how they approach work, love and play; how people feel, function, and interact with others. With each patient, I work to understand the emotional underpinnings of their situation.
Emotions and how we deal with them affect how we relate to ourselves, our family and work life. I work to understand each person's experience and how this affects current life. I work to understand with the patient what they struggle with and how it has developed. Through greater self-understanding, we work to change what the person wants to change.
As a psychoanalytically trained psychiatrist, I do a great deal of psychotherapy but I also prescribe medications when needed. I treat patients with depression, anxiety troubles, work and school performance issues, self defeating behaviors, relationship problems, obsessive-compulsive troubles, and difficulties arising out of adjusting to the transitions of life - to name a few.
Medication Versus Psychotherapy (Talk Therapy)
I prescribe medications to my patients when needed, though reliance only on medications to treat their illness is not an adequate treatment plan for most people. Medication treatment alone results in complete improvement in the most common psychiatric illnesses (depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks) less than 40% of the time. The other 60% of patients get partial or no improvement from medications alone. This majority also need psychotherapy, sometimes called "talk therapy", for maximal improvement or remission of symptoms. The scientific literature supports me on this, though for many reasons talk therapy is under-emphasized in our current culture. An article appeared in the New York Times that discussed this trend. I provide all aspects of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care and help patients by listening and responding to their concerns sensitively and professionally. Emotions are difficult for most everyone, and all patients deserve treatment that addresses their troubles in a compassionate, accepting, understanding way.
Experience
I have practiced psychiatry and psychotherapy in Chapel Hill since 1994, in Durham before then. I graduated UNC School of Medicine in 1987 and finished my residency with the Psychiatry Department of Duke University Medical Center in 1991. I am a fully trained psychoanalyst. I see patients almost exclusively at my office in Chapel Hill, though over the years I have seen patients at other locations- for community service and to continue to hone my skills to help a broad variety of people.
For over 25 years, I've worked to deepen my knowledge of psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis through my experience and continued teaching activities. I have adjunct faculty appointments at UNC and Duke and teach psychotherapy to UNC and Duke psychiatric residents. I'm also a psychoanalyst on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. I am well versed in insight oriented, dynamic, psychoanalytic, supportive, and cognitive-behavioral therapies.
What Can Be Expected
In the initial appointment, a new patient can expect to discuss what she or he has been experiencing, what has influenced their current experience, how troubles have developed, and ways the patient has come up with to cope. I look into how important relationships and events contribute to those troubles. I discuss my impression of what we have talked about, and discuss treatment options. With the patient, I consider what is in their best interest in both the short and long term, and discuss the pros and cons of recommendations.
If there is a practical or other concern about following a treatment approach, I work with the patient to help put together a personalized plan fits both the need to address the their difficulties and their practical constraints.