Joyce M Cartor

Psychotherapy is a collaborative process; the therapist must be serious and respectful and possess a solid reservoir of knowledge about the human condition. The therapy-seeker must, in addition to wanting symptom relief, bring to the process his or her curiosity and some desire for increased self awareness. People come to psychotherapy in emotional turmoil and/or pain. While this is usually the first focus, quickly it will become important to try to understand one’s personality style, one’s relationship patterns and the roots of these patterns, one’s thinking style and the characteristic way one goes about managing, deflecting or enacting emotional storms. Human beings have very complex minds. I value this complexity and believe that people always benefit by realistically understanding how their unique histories have influenced their capacities and limitations, their levels of reactivity, their approach to work, love and friendship, and especially the ways in which we all get in our ow