In my private practice I help clients work on their emotional challenges either in short-term solution focused counseling or in long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Short-Term Solution-Focused Counseling
When you seek individual counseling I would work with you to identify problems, set realistic goals, and help you develop problem solving, coping, and interpersonal skills. There are various situations in which counseling can be helpful. For example, a man who has mixed feelings about the woman he is dating could use counseling to talk out the pros and cons. In this process he would arrive at a decision regarding the immediate relationship. He could also gain a better cognitive understanding of what is important to him, or why he responds positively or negatively to specific aspects or traits in other people.
Another example of short-term services I provide is career counseling. Issues that might prompt a person to seek this type of counseling include: a chance for advancement that requires a move, a change to a new career, or a return to college for additional education. In each of these cases the client has a focused issue and needs help sorting out his or her thoughts and feelings. Besides resolving the immediate question, counseling could bring into focus underlying issues such as repressed resentments, unrealistic expectations, difficulties in making a decision, or fears of being exposed or of failing. While the client could gain a better understanding of such issues, and even be able to make better decisions, changes to his or her character or emotional reactions would require a shift from counseling to psychotherapy.
I also provide couples and marriage counseling. This is probably the most well known form of counseling. Here a couple is trying to resolve relationship issues. People use this type of counseling to gain clarity regarding their emotional reactions, and to develop an ability to more clearly express their thoughts and feelings. They are also able to explore what they want and what they are willing to accept. Sometimes underlying problems such as a loss of self (independence) in a close relationship, fear of abandonment, or difficulties with intimacy come into focus. Psychological work on such issues moves the process from counseling (the resolution of specific problems) to psychotherapy.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
In working with individuals my theoretical orientation is informed by psychodynamic psychotherapy. This kind of psychotherapy promotes emotional awareness and psychological development. The process can strengthen one’s sense of confidence, self-acceptance, and responsibility in daily life. It may also lead to a greater capacity for intimacy, to a more productive use of innate skills, and to experiencing more meaning and pleasure in life.
Dynamic psychotherapy involves an exploration of the interplay between one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (or ways of being in the world). This interplay is not only explored as it is manifested in everyday life, but also, as it is experienced in relation to the therapist. One result is an uncovering of attitudes and feelings that were automatic and out of awareness. Two examples of the experiential awareness one might obtain with this kind of uncovering are 1) one’s contempt for others and how contempt is used to ward off feelings of neediness, or 2) how intellectualization of experience is used to avoid anxiety.
This type of psychotherapy takes longer than solution focused short-term counseling. It often involves some disorientation and/or the experience of painful affect. Finally, when successful, a person gains flexibility in his or her emotional and behavioral responses. That is, the person has the option of changing automatic responses that have limited his or her ability to find meaning and pleasure in life. It is through this uncovering and explorative process that one gains a sense of confidence, self-acceptance and a greater capacity for both self-awareness and intimacy.
Bijan Amirshahi Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Lic. # 46183 Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Lic. # 387 4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250 Irvine, CA 92604 Non-emergency Texts Only (949) 533-3177 bijan@bijanamirshahi.com www.bijanamirshahi.com
Bijan Amirshahi 
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