Barbara Freedman, MSW, LCSW

Online Psychotherapy

People arrive at a therapists office having tried their best way of getting along in the world. This is true, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic circumstances and so forth. Distress in relationships causes tremendous suffering, confusion and unhappiness. Often, our relational troubles are embedded in our earliest relationships. In therapy, I help individuals understand how early and formative relationships with parents, siblings and significant others, impacts relationship styles and troubles in the here and now. A trusting and empathic therapeutic relationship offers  an opportunity for exploration of one’s interpersonal issues, this experience can catalyze healing, new pathways of relating, increased self efficacy, confidence and vitality.

From the mid eighties through the mid nineties, I worked as a primary adolescent and family psychotherapist on a Stanford University inpatient child psychiatry unit in San Jose, CA. Children, adolescents and families presented with a myriad of psychiatric troubles, including depression, anxiety, parent/child conflicts, divorce, relationship strife, sexual orientation and identity issues, trauma, loss and grief; of a parent, sibling, grandparent, parent figure and/or beloved family pet. In my work with parents of an adolescent, common areas of exploration include understanding the core determinants of self esteem and what parents can do to foster healthy self esteem in their child, money, responsibility and helping your teen make healthy decisions, respect for self and others; bullying and scapegoating in the family and peer group, facilitating your child’s short and long term goals, modeling healthy limit setting and boundaries, nurturing your child’s truest, most authentic spirit and encouraging healthy self assertion.

Currently, I treat adolescents, the college age population and adults in my psychotherapy practice. A predictable consequence of modern family positioned in today’s supersonic technological world, is the fact that parents, extended family and educators are stretched thin, leaving them with less time to foster the next generation. This becomes quite clear in the clinical presentation of college students I see in my practice. In a nut shell, many individuals may not receive the psychological resources from parents and others earlier on, to successively launch themselves in this next phase of life, college. I find my role as psychotherapist to this age group an interesting mix of part therapist, part auxiliary parental figure, part mentor. Symptoms concerning identity, sexuality, relational issues, study and work inhibitions and self initiation are but a few of the issues germane to the young adult’s development. Negotiation and mastery of these developmental milestones in the therapeutic relationship, increases an individual’s internal sense of security and agency and thus, the potential for the college student to be successful now at the academy and later in his or her life. College and young adulthood (every age!) is an optimal time to engage in psychological work.

What’s truly exciting is learning through the field of neuroscience how our brains continue to grow throughout our lives. This means we can evolve our minds at any age, if we desire. We can practice and learn how to become more loving, compassionate individuals. We can cultivate positive qualities in ourselves and find them in others. And, if we familiarize ourselves with our own minds at the deepest level, we can access our deepest selves and it is here at our core, where we happen into that which stirs and sustains us (our relationships) most profoundly over the long haul. Relationship sustainability.

I am looking forward to meeting you soon. My hours are flexible and you are welcome to send me an email regarding your preferred schedule time and venue, including email,  phone, face to face, chat, skype/ video.

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