About Janice

I have been a psychotherapist for 25 years, and a psychoanalyst for the past 15 years. I am a relational therapist/analyst because we are always in some form of relationship with the other. Often how we relate to others becomes highlighted with the therapist in our sessions together. 

Simply put, psychotherapy is a once a week commitment. People usually want psychotherapy because they want to work on current issues that are disrupting their life.  While in psychoanalysis, however, someone may want to work on a deeper exploration of self and self in relationship to others, and delve more into the unconscious. Usually we meet 3-4 times a week. 

I interned and worked at the Veterans Administration for 7 years; I refer to it as my “basic training”. I am very grateful I had this opportunity to work with people who have put their lives on the line for all of us. At the VA I had the opportunity to work with people who suffered from PTSD, sexual abuse, substance abuse, and severely and persistently mental illness. My patients there taught me how to be in a relationship with them; human to human. This was an invaluable lesson that has become the cornerstone of my approach. Then I went on to work at the second place I had been as an intern, Kaiser Permanente. I facilitated their Intensive Outpatient program, working with individuals who were like many “energizer bunnies”, until the battery wore out. I helped them to understand mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that putting everyone first, without checking in with yourself, is like giving a cup of water with holes in it. “Self care” has become a major buzzword. In therapy I help people to understand self care is not being selfish. Think of who you put the mask on first in an emergency situation on an airplane. I also worked with individuals, families, and couples at Kaiser with a myriad of issues. Working at Kaiser gave me a pulse on issues immigrants faced when they came here, and I was humbled and once again, they taught me how to be in a relationship; human to human.

The last setting I worked in was at Pacific Care and Healing Treatment Center (PCH). I encountered many of the same issues I worked with at the VA, and I had the opportunity to work mainly with young adults ages 18-25. They were very patient and taught me how to relate to them so that they felt understood. I remember the phrase “don’t trust anyone over 30.”  I was a few decades beyond “30”, but they told me I was “cool.” I was able to help them and still be “cool.”  It doesn’t get any better than that. I also maintained a private practice while working in these different settings.

I am eclectic in my approach. I am a good listener, but I am not a silent partner, because in therapy what is important is the relationship that develops between the two of us. I help people access parts of themselves that are frozen in time. It was not safe for these parts to be because, early in life we learned how to be in relationship with others to survive, and we exiled those parts, because consciously, unconsciously, or not ever on our radar, they were not welcomed by people we trusted knew what was in our best interest.