Jane Mayer

Psychodynamic 

My original training is in psychodynamic psychotherapy. This theoretical orientation helps me to understand the family patterns and experiences of my clients and how they impact their sense of themselves, relationships and others. Often we are relating in ways that do not work, and our actions and beliefs are based on past scripts, rather than the choice and perspectives of our grown up selves.

Mindfulness-based

Utiilzing various precepts of Buddhist psychology, mindfulness and somatic (body) based therapies, I am able to help people learn about what they are feeling,grown in their awareness and tolerance of their feeling states and move forward, even in discomfort. This allows my clients to be fully feeling while functioning in life's good and not-so-good moments of relating, working and adjusting.

Humanistic 

Approaching my clients as whole, meaning-filled human beings allows me to help them discover themselves, beyond their current self-concept. By engaging in present-moment relationship and through encouraging my clients to discover their ability to function in new and creative ways, my clients can discover more choice, self-esteem, and integrity in how they interact with themselves and others.

Family Caregiving

Facing the role of caregiver to a loved one, child or elder can be a daunting task. The balance between caring for oneself and caring for another requires skill, mindfulness and support. I help caregivers learn how to discern what self-care means for them, and how to maintain it amidst the stress, grief and hard feelings that emerge along the way.

Loss or Grief

My primary professional interest has been to learn how to be present to people as they grieve their losses. Often, well-meaning loved ones want to rush the bereaved through their pain, as it can seem settling and unsettling. Grief is a part of life that few of us learn to do well, and I help people move through their grief, honor their losses and learn how to move forward at their own pace.

Adjustment Disorder

Specializing in life transitions, I work with clients who are facing the sometimes harrowing transitions that we encounter as humans: changing or ending relationships, learning to relate with our families healthily, partnering with significant others, parenting, occupational change, aging and grief and loss.

Codependency

When one grows up in a family that is destabilized by the presence of alcoholism, traumatic loss, addiction, or insufficient parenting, we can adopt various strategies for relating to others that aren't healthy. These strategies leave us feeling as though we are sacrificing parts of ourselves to have love. I help people learn to relate healthily to themselves and others.