Renee Gilbert, Psychologist

As a seasoned Licensed Clinical Psychologist, I'm trained in a variety of different treatment approaches, but favor strategies that help people manage today's problems by teaching skills people can use for a lifetime.

Brief Overview:
I work with a wide variety of people (adults, children, families, couples, and organizations) addressing everything from anxiety, grief, loss and depression to personal growth, stress, and life transitions). I offer specialized programs for couples and relationships, dating, and social anxiety complete with handouts and worksheets.
My work is based on a wide variety of treatment approaches borrowing from traditional psychotherapy, learning theory (both behavioral and educational Pedagogy -- a big word for teaching methods and practice) and neuroscience (which I embraced long before it popular).

That said . . .

I can best describe myself as a Cognitive-Behavioral, Family Systems therapist whose work is based on a Competency Model that's paid homage to the importance neuroscience and learning theories play in both how we became the people we are now, and the steps we need to take to become more like the people we want to be.

The Competency Model assumes people do things for a reason and that "problem behaviors" are logical adaptations to difficult situations--adaptations that simply have outlived their usefulness. The focus of therapy is to replace outmoded problem-solving strategies with new more effective solutions. As a Cognitive-Behavioral therapist, I favor techniques that highlight the relationship between our thoughts and the way we feel and act in the world. And finally, as a Family Systems therapist, I respect the importance others play in our life and include them in the treatment process in spirit, if not in body.

As time has passed, this has meant that I've become a cross between a detective, a teacher and a coach. A detective----because my job is to help people identify issues that are at the root of their problems. A teacher----because understanding the cause of our problems usually isn't enough. If we want to be successful, we need to learn new more effective ways to solve them. And finally, a coach----because even the most self-motivated person needs a little feedback and encouragement along the way.

What to expect . . .

First . . . The harder you work, the harder I end up working as I gain momentum from the energy you put into your work. Don't worry if it's a slow start. Life can be hard at times. I can pick up the slack to help you get started, but my goal is to help you achieve your goals with increasingly less input from me.
Second . . . I give homework. How much or how little depends on what makes sense for you, what you want to accomplish, and the demands on your time.
Three . . . I utilize Therapy Cats in my practice. For now, their participation is limited to online video appearances or exposure therapy work that we can do outdoors. They are amazing (but I'm biased), high energy (not lap cats), sensitive enough to notice things in session I miss, and extremely intelligent and relatively hypoallergenic (no cat is completely hypoallergenic). If you're curious, you can look up the breeds online--one is a Bengal with an extraordinary people forward and dog friendly personality, and the other (the new kid on the block) is a Cornish Rex who is our resident comedian.