Overcome Dating Challenges - in Midlife and Beyond

Gail Weiner

My training is broadly psychodynamic. Over four decades of practice, this has come to mean: I'm humbled by the power of childhood experience to shape us; respectful of complexity in our attitudes, feelings and thoughts; grateful to ally with impulses - conscious and unconscious - toward healing; impressed by a deeper purpose behind what may seem irrational; curious about what we know, what we think we know, and what is yet to be revealed;  aware that  contradictions and hidden strengths fuel unique paths to healing, and finally, that a trusting relationship between therapist and client is the ground of change.  
                         
I also seek more broadly to enrich the environment for transformation. I collaborate with clients to refer, as needed, to other professionals and resources that support their growth. Expanding community, thoughtfully, can contribute corrective emotional experiences, can reinforce self-assertion & boundary-setting, and give an experience of mastery and pleasure. I value the power of tying insight to new behaviors.

In part, this means designing practices (aka homework) that will allow for emotional discovery, novel experiences of oneself, real-time feedback from the world, & consolidation of new skills. Targeted freewriting is another tool we may use to accelerate self-awareness - a powerful pathway to see, claim and champion your own perspective.