Professional Consultations

Couples therapy is a treatment modality in which committed couples (straight, gay, married, unmarried) work on healing and improving their relationship. Goals include enhancing communication, helping couples understand the persistent maladaptive behavioral patterns that they engage in, and encouraging lasting change that permits the relationship to flourish.

In situations in which the couple is not compatible and decides to separate, the focus shifts to helping the couple transition successfully out of the relationship while maintaining the self-esteem of each individual. In cases in which children are involved, the goal becomes cooperative co-parenting so that the children are most optimally able to cope with familial change.

Individual therapy is a treatment modality in which an individual works to better understand emotional responses, behaviors, and coping mechanisms. Goals include self-improvement, removal of obstacles to optimal functioning, healing from trauma, and moving beyond self-defeating patterns and behaviors.

People struggling with psychiatric illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, attention disorders, etc. can benefit from psychotherapy as a complement to their treatment with psychiatric medications. Those with medical conditions, disabilities, or injuries can process their feelings and improve their coping skills.

Family therapy is a treatment modality that includes the entire family or selected members of the family in the session. Goals include helping the family understand patterns of behavior that preclude healthy change, and encouraging behavior and communication options that permit the family to function optimally and effectively.

Parenting counseling is a treatment modality with married, unmarried, gay, or divorced parents to help them work together as a team to better understand the behaviors and emotional responses of their children as well as child development in general. It teaches communication skills, facilitates a positive relationship between parent and child, and promotes a balance between nurturing children and setting limits.

In situations in which a parent has no partner, a focus becomes finding resources to help with childrearing.

Play therapy is a treatment modality for children from about ages three to ten which utilizes play to encourage expression of feelings and thoughts, often with the goal of changing self-defeating behaviors. Issues that young children cope with may include fears, school problems, traumatic situations, familial breakup, being bullied, and dealing with an emotional or physical handicap of the self or of a close family member.

My office contains a fully equipped playroom with art supplies, puppets, figures, games, sand trays, and more. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to provide feedback about the child’s behaviors, and the adults in a child’s life are also offered support and counseling.

Adolescent therapy is a treatment modality in which teenagers meet with the therapist to deal with issues such as school problems, bullying, drugs or alcohol, sexual issues, or an emotional or physical handicap. While the adolescent is the primary focus of the therapy, parents or caregivers are encouraged to provide feedback about the teen’s behaviors. The adults in the teen’s life are also offered support and counseling.

Trauma therapy is a treatment modality which focuses on the healing of an exceptional mental or physical stressor that leaves the individual feeling fearful, helpless, or shocked. Some of the typical symptoms after a traumatic event or events are intrusive re-experiencing of the event, avoidance of situations that remind the person of the event, generalized numbing, and/or heightened responses of fear or watchfulness.

Prolonged childhood trauma without the opportunity to process the events may lead to dissociation or compartmentalization of a person’s reality. The goal of treatment is the integration of a person’s thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Drug and alcohol counseling is a treatment modality in which the focus is on sobriety and the maintenance of sobriety for adolescents and adults who abuse or who are dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. While the individual is offered time to understand self-defeating behaviors and progress to living a healthier drug-free lifestyle, the family is also an essential part of treatment. In cases where sobriety is not desired or achievable, harm reduction is a legitimate therapeutic goal.

For people who are dependent on opiates, Dr. Robert Benjamin is licensed to prescribe and monitor Suboxone. There are also pharmaceuticals, in addition to psychotherapy, for people who abuse alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, and other drugs.

Clients are also encouraged to seek additional outside supports such as 12-Step programs and outpatient group therapies.

The birth of a baby brings many changes to a family. Childbirth sometimes puts the mother at risk for depression or anxiety. Our practice offers supportive psychotherapy for the mother and the couple as well as pharmacological interventions, if needed, both during pregnancy and after birth.