Derek Rubinstein

Like any new endeavor, beginning therapy can bring both anxiety and hope. Whether you’re seeking therapy to address specific concerns or to engage in personal exploration, I bring many years of experience working with a broad range of issues and people. I see therapy as a unique opportunity to help my clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves, develop greater awareness and insight, and make meaningful changes that lead to greater fulfillment in their lives, relationships, and careers.Through open and honest exploration and dialogue, I will help you identify the most pressing issues, connect past experiences with current challenges, and build important capacities like emotional intelligence and self-awareness. I’m good at providing practical solutions while also diving beneath the surface to discover underlying causes in order to affect deeper and longer lasting change.Adults Life is full of challenges that can become overwhelming and lead to disruptions in our lives, relationships, and careers. Many people struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, difficult life transitions, relationship challenges, or experiences of trauma and loss. Therapy provides a safe, confidential, and deeply personal relationship that can help you find relief from suffering, become more engaged in your life, and move forward in more constructive and growth-promoting ways.Therapy offers a unique opportunity to slow down and develop greater awareness of what is causing you distress as well as what will help you heal and grow. People seek out therapy for different reasons and have different needs and goals. Some people need immediate help to find relief from crippling mental health symptoms and develop strategies and coping skills to make it through an imminent crisis. Others may be experiencing reoccurring patterns in relationships, difficulties with self-esteem, or battling self-sabotaging behaviors such as substance abuse, perfectionism, and procrastination. Others may start therapy to find greater meaning, purpose, engagement, and fulfillment in their lives.Whatever your reasons for seeking out therapy, I will work collaboratively and thoughtfully with you to meet you where you’re at, help you identify your goals, and develop an individualized approach to working with you. Below are common issues I work with:Relationship Difficulties Low Self-Esteem/Self-Confidence Life Transitions Grief & Loss Spirituality, Purpose, & Meaning Integration of BIG Experiences (e.g. meditation retreats, psychedelics, spiritual emergence) Personal Discovery & Growth Sexuality Depression & Bipolar Disorder Anxiety & Panic Attacks Trauma/PTSD Substance Abuse/Misuse/Addiction ADHD/Executive Functioning Difficulties High Functioning Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome Obsessions-Compulsions/OCD Professional/Workplace Challenges Men’s Issues Couples Couples seek out therapy for different reasons and with different goals in mind. I’m passionate about helping couples identify and explore their challenges while learning new ways of relating and connecting that include greater warmth, care, understanding, and intimacy.We all want to feel loved, safe, connected, understood, and respected in our relationships. At the same time, intimate relationships inevitably bring out vulnerable issues that when unaddressed lead to reoccurring patterns of misunderstanding, conflict, confusion, and disconnection. Couples often find themselves stuck repeating these problematic patterns over and over again. Couples therapy can help you shift entrenched relational patterns to more healthy ways of communicating, being with each other, and addressing conflict or disconnection when it occurs.I work from the perspective that we are often affected by deeply held relational patterns and wounds that are carried over from previous significant relationships and experiences. Additionally, many people grew up in families that didn’t provide good models for how to be in a healthy relationship. Couples therapy involves recognizing and shifting problematic relational patterns in a safe, compassionate, respectful, and collaborative environment to transform emotional pain, blame, and anger into greater understanding, love, and connection.In our work together, I will help you navigate difficult conversations and provide feedback, support, and insight to help you become unstuck and develop a more fulfilling and satisfying relationship. Together, we can address the following issues:Improve Trust Improve Communication Sex/Physical Intimacy Anger & Blame Premarital Issues Uncovering/Exploring Relational Beliefs Developing Greater Intimacy, Empathy, and Compassion Navigating Open Relationships