The approach I take is multidimensional:

Drawing on the sociological perspective, I look at the individual as s/he is located in culture and
history.  Thus, I pay close attention to economic, political, social, cultural, and other macro level
forces which exert often unrecognized influences on people in a particular society.  It is often
helpful and freeing for the client to locate macro messages, then to trace them to at least their
approximate origin in history.  They are then often able to demystify and set themselves apart
from messages and conclusions they had previously assumed were inevitable.

In therapy, I assist clients in examining how their families functioned, what dynamics were set in motion, and how this microcosm affected and continues to affect their present interactions.  When clients become conscious of family messages, they are able to gain insight into their self-image, their relationships with others, and their general world-view.  This new consciousness often illuminates options in interpersonal relations and self-image they could not access before.

I invite clients to delve into the deeper parts of themselves as they feel comfortable.  In doing so, I draw from the thinkers and doers who have provided frameworks for understanding how  we form our most basic attachments, what happens if they are seriously disrupted or damaged, and what the implications of this can be.  I invite clients to articulate and work through the various developmental tasks human beings must all face, such as development of trust, a sense of competence, and leaving a positive legacy of some kind.

Clients are encouraged to look at their relationships with their families, past and current labels and expectations, verbal and non verbal messages, and the resulting effects on their quality of life.  In the process of self-exploration, they often run into universal questions and concerns, such as the meaning   of life, the implications of death awareness, and the construction or affirmation of a useful cosmological framework. Some clients have extremely painful and guilt-inducing experiences with organized religion.  If they choose to, they are free to deconstruct them and create or discover a healthy, life-affirming cosmology.

In addition to these, I encourage clients to examine and consider factors such as diet, exercise, sleep, weather, medical conditions, ingested substances, trauma, environmental stressors, brain chemistry.  If clients feel it is necessary, I will  assist them in finding, and will coordinate with specialized treatment providers. I also encourage them to seek out healing through such avenues as meditation, yoga, wholistic medicine, and other similar modalities.