If you’ve landed on this website and are reading this letter, chances are you or someone you care about is hurting. Something isn’t working properly. You’re looking for some help for yourself or seeking it for someone close to you. As someone who has been around this business for a long time, I can tell you that therapy is usually difficult. It requires bravery, bold searching, re-living pain and, above all, it requires the fortitude to prevail through the period of change. But, to paraphrase Robert Frost:
“The Only Way Out is Through”
It takes work, there will likely be pain, so you want to find a therapist you trust to help you through this time. No matter which therapist you choose, I wish you success in your quest and the growth that is derived from overcoming life’s trials.
There are many good therapists out there. In my opinion, the most important part of a well-functioning therapeutic relationship is good chemistry. While each practitioner brings a myriad of techniques to the conversation, it is their ability to communicate with you, and you with them, in a style that results in you feeling truly understood, that is most important. Some patients prefer passive therapists. Others prefer therapists who are more involved and vocal. I fall into the latter category. My tool bag is well stocked; I possess the understanding and experience of many schools of psychological thought and their numerous attendant techniques. I am conversant in many forms of therapy, yet I practice only one: the amalgam of my experiences crafted specifically for the individual with whom I am working at the time. As such, the chemistry has to be there for me as well.
I invite you for a no cost consultation – either in the office or on the phone. If, after getting to know one another a bit, we both feel we can work well together, then let’s go from there. If not, no harm no foul. I look forward to meeting and, perhaps, working with you.
— Dr. Ralph Diner
