Marilyn Ternay, PhD

I have had the good fortune of being involved in the many different aspects of clinical psychology during my 40 years of practice. My experience has covered the entire realm of ages and stages, including university teaching, consulting, working as a school psychologist for fifteen years, to many years of private practice and working with senior citizens in nursing homes and retirement facilities. My experience is vast, but my primary focus has always been working with families, couples and individuals, since they form the building blocks of our society.

My aim is to provide a warm and caring therapeutic environment; a safe place where trust allows for vulnerability and acceptance to take place. My approach to therapy is very much influenced by the theoretical underpinnings of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It allows for a holistic view of the client, their situation, and the multiple options they have before them. CBT lends itself to using techniques from many schools of thought.

Surviving cancer has taught me to prioritize, finding what is truly most important in life, in any given situation, and focusing my energy on that. I’ve found that it’s not what happens in life that’s as important as how I respond to what happens. That response is what’s most important. That response is what’s within my control.

I have always thought of myself as a caring, encouraging teacher who will eventually be working herself out of a job. My approach to doing therapy involves teaching individuals coping skills and effective communication skills, as well as how to analyze their thinking patterns and behaviors. I aim is to help my clients develop the ability to understand their behaviors by learning how to analyze their thinking patterns. With this knowledge in hand, they can work to change irrational and unsubstantiated thinking patterns, and then make better behavior choices.

Changing ingrained behavior patterns is hard work. Therefore, I often assign outside “homework” to practice new behaviors. We review the assignments and discuss their effectiveness. I expect commitment from my clients, that they are invested in therapy and work hard outside therapy, practicing and doing their “homework”.