Dr. Steven Gemignani
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Style
CBT is a very collaborative approach that stresses immediate symptom reduction and problem solving. This mode of therapy focuses on how negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors influence each other and lead patients to experience symptoms and become involved in difficult situations. This type of treatment is often time-limited and is appropriate for treating problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, and PTSD, as well as setting and achieving goals and priorities.
I am a thoughtful, active and direct practitioner who is dedicated to helping my clients achieve their goals. Many people entering treatment are anxious, so I seek to create an open, collaborative environment for our work together. I will actively work to help you better understand yourself and the challenges you are facing. We’ll also identify and leverage your specific strengths to help you overcome these challenges and achieve your goals.
For coaching, we will identify those areas you would like to address, set goals and priorities, break problems down and define a path for you to incrementally reach your goals. Coaching is a collaborative process. We will leverage and further develop your strengths and help you develop new skills and abilities, so that you can reach your potential and achieve success in your life.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy focuses on increasing insight and self-awareness. The primary goal is to help the client better understand how their past experiences influence their current beliefs and behavior. Positive life change is facilitated through this newly found insight. For example, a psychodynamic approach can help a client examine unresolved issues from past relationships that lead to repeated patterns of relationship difficulties. Once a client understands these issues, they can change the way they view and relate with others, and build better, stronger and healthier relationships.
For therapy, I integrate different theoretical orientations based on each client’s goals, preferences and unique personality. Our approach will also consider the specific challenges you are facing. I generally use elements from Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioral approaches to treatment, while also drawing from principles of mindfulness to increase awareness and engagement both in our sessions and my clients' day-to-day lives. A brief explanation of both approaches appears below. I use cognitive behavioral techniques to immediately help reduce the impact of any troublesome symptoms or roadblocks my clients are experiencing. The goal is to help you feel better and make progress sooner. I also apply psychodynamic techniques so that we can better understand what underlies your concerns and challenges. We'll explore how the issues originated and how they are sustained. This allows us to make long-term changes as well as improve your happiness and ability to be successful in the world. I find this "two pronged" approach to be extremely effective.
Contact me for a free initial consultation to explore if my style and experience are a good "fit" for your needs. I will provide free referrals to other clinicians if I am not the right therapist for you.
Steven Gemignani, Psy.D. ® Hayes Valley - 333 Hayes Street, Suite 103, San Francisco, CA