Phillip Roberto, LISW

My goal is to help you feel like your best self by bringing your unique challenges into focus. I want to hear your strengths and honor your desire to grow and change. I will help you discover new perspectives that connect to your valuable inner resources so you can take the lead and heal.

Life moves us forward and many forces may knock us off balance. Constraints and obstacles are part of living and we must adapt, try new approaches, and make new mistakes in order to grow. We are often injured, sometimes greatly, but we may hide our pain because we want to present ourselves as okay. Being okay indicates worthiness for inclusion; it means being like “everyone else.” Being okay sometimes means getting by.
And yet, how often do we subtlety feel unsafe in a way only we know? Inside somewhere we can feel that something is not right. We can’t help but to try to adjust to this feeling of not being okay. This adjusting requires a lot of energy and many times what we do doesn’t resolve the feelings. What then?

Over time the energy expended on these protective efforts can drain us. We may guard ourselves with depression, with anger, with doing. We may protect ourselves by withdrawing. We may numb or blunt strong feelings inside. Too often these actions set us back rather than move us forward.
I work with adults experiencing difficulties with a variety of behaviors that are holding them back from the lives they seek. These include protective behaviors like anger, anxiety, depression; numbing behaviors (alcohol or substances abuse.); distractions (with work, promiscuity, exercise, or others), and more. I work to help bring clarity and build safe connections within families, relationships at work, and elsewhere. I work to guide safe processing of grief, loss and loneliness. Together, we focus on you and your needs for emotional health.

I practice the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy which is based on an understanding of our protective behaviors as, at core, being beneficial, with a goal to keep us safe. Our work is to bring calm, curiosity and compassion to were we find such protection, meet that and build trust so we can discover a path to support healing.

Sessions last a minimum of 50 minutes. This is intentional and focused work. As such, session times are closely followed to honor the space and time – particularly when a client is scheduled directly after your session. It is important to start on time and allow yourself a few moments after the session to connect again to the rest of your day.

The first session lasts up to an 1 hour and 15 minutes. During this session, we’ll discuss what’s bringing you in, what you need, the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship, how I approach the work, policies and client confidentiality. I’ll begin learning your history, your needs and goals. Continuation is by mutual agreement.