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Chances are the last time you clashed with your partner, the argument had a painfully familiar ring to it.

The facts may differ, the intensity may vary, but the basic issues stay the same—the positions infuriatingly entrenched. Even the misery that comes after the fight has a recycled feel to it. "We're stuck," many couples tell me. "We never get anywhere—even when we really try to sit down and talk about our problems."

Sadly enough, it's true. Meaningful dialogue has stopped as each party continues to play a role in a stand-off that destroys confidence in problem-solving abilities as well as the relationship. One goal of the therapy, as I see it, is to move you from these holding patterns into real dialogues that address your true needs, hopes, wishes and dreams.

Conflict

Fights which are focused on money, in-laws, sex, work, affairs, retirement, friends,

LEARN HOW COUPLES REKINDLE DESIRE AND GET HAPPY AGAIN Click here to preview Diana Shulman's new book.

recreation, children, jealousy, and lifestyle often have deeper roots. The anger, sadness, emotional disengagement, and despair that underlie these fights need careful attention and exploration. The hidden hopes and dreams are the real casualties—subjects so carefully guarded that they never even enter the discussion, and not surprisingly, often have to do with friendship, safety, respect, compassion, trust, freedom, self-exploration, love, and joy.

The goal of therapy is not to eliminate fighting. Fights are going to happen—they're natural and normal in all relationships. The question is: how quickly and effectively do you move to repair your fights? Are you able to examine exactly what went wrong and talk this over with your partner without getting back into the fight? If not, you are in effect "wasting" your fights, ensuring that there will be no take-away lesson and no chance to have more skilled interactions in the future.

Self-assessment

Ask yourself whether or not you could use some help with aspects of your interactions that tend to "go off the rails":

• Are either of you critical as opposed to gentle in voicing complaints?
• Are either of you defensive rather than taking ownership of at least a part of the problem?
• Are either of you "holier than thou" (contemptuous ) rather than working from a foundation of friendship and appreciation—knowing that nobody's perfect?
• Do either of you shut down and withdraw during your fights?
• Do your discussions start harshly?
• Are you both open to influence from the other or is it instead a one-way street?
• Do you enjoy your time together doing routine tasks or errands?
• Do you have meaningful rituals and habits around leave-taking and reunion, meals, friendships, bedtimes, couples dates and holidays?
• Do you share similar goals and values?
• Do the two of you compromise well?

My Approach

As a psychoanalyst who is certified in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples, I use research-based assessments and techniques to help you reduce negativity and rebuild the intimacy in your relationship. I also draw heavily on my training in AEDP, a psychoanalytic, emotion-focused approach, developed by Dr. Diana Fosha, author of The Transforming Power of Affect. Getting to emotion is an important part of this work, and my job will not be to soothe you but to teach you how to self-soothe and become a port in the storm for your partner. It is my firm belief that we can get to the root of your relationship problems without either of you feeling as though you're about to be identified as the "pathological partner" or the one who is deficient or bad. Instead, we'll work in a respectful, collaborative way to help you deepen your understanding of each other as well as strengthen the friendship that is a vital part of repair. At the end of therapy, most people tell me that our work was a positive emotional experience and that they enjoyed the sessions as well as the homework and exercises.

How the therapy is structured

We need to do a thorough assessment of relationship strengths and weaknesses so that the areas we target are not based on guesswork. With this in mind, we will have 4 sessions devoted solely to information gathering. Our first session (80 to 85 minutes) will be spent exploring each of your hopes and fears about therapy; the history of your relationship; and some areas of current difficulty. After this first session, you will each complete a detailed on-line questionnaire. By our second couples meeting, I'll have reviewed the completed questionnaires so we can go over the treatment plan, jointly deciding which issues to give our immediate attention.

Time commitment

I recommend a 10 session commitment after the assessment period. Following these 10 sessions, we can move to less frequent sessions and if it seems feasible, begin to phase out the therapy. Beyond that, we will schedule 4 sessions for follow up: 1 session after 6 months, another after 12 months, 18 months and after 2 years. Research shows that these type of "tune-ups" significantly reduce the chance for relapse.

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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We all know the value of a timely apology. Done well, it heals like an emotional analgesic. Done really well, its reparative speed seems magical. Done poorly, it falls flat, and we go from magical to meh.

Most of us aren't schooled in the art of apologizing. We pick up a few bad habits from our families, flail around using trial and error, and then continue to stumble, wondering why our efforts don't do the job. If the vignette below describes one of your rough patches, it's time to give your “Sorry Skills” a tuneup.

And, of course, you did. The problem is your repair efforts didn't go far enough, and one (or both) of you is still hurting. Whether it's a reluctance to acknowledge missteps or face your flaws, you may have rushed the process, relying on superficial declarations that got you nowhere. Don't lose heart. Unless deeply ingrained destructive behaviors or personality disorders are causing your fights, you can turn things around. If you discuss the following 5 steps before your next dust-up (trust me, you'll have one), your apologies may start working the way you want.

1. Preparation. Check in before you start repairing anything. Are you willing to honor your partner’s point of view, or are you still on a fact-finding mission, arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong? My advice: Forget about the so-called facts when it comes to your garden variety issues. You each have a point of view that makes sense even though you don’t see eye-to-eye. Deepening your understanding doesn’t guarantee agreement. Whether you do some deep breathing, head for the gym, or watch TV, don't go further until you’re ready to acknowledge that your partner is NOT YOU and that it's perfectly okay to be NOT YOU.
2. Self-reflection. During your alone time, recall a moment when YOU were on the receiving end of what you think your partner is going through right now. Pick something that has nothing to do with your partner—an incident from a different era or another relationship when you felt excluded, hurt, ashamed, unappreciated, overlooked, disrespected, or humiliated. Maybe you were the object of someone’s anger, judgment, or ridicule. Revisit the incident as if you're watching a movie. Who was there?  Where were you sitting or standing? Who said what to whom?  Allow yourself to re-experience the emotions you felt. Were you sad, angry, guilty, or ashamed? Were you afraid? Pay attention. The pain you’re experiencing is probably similar to what your partner is experiencing now. Once you've been there and felt that, you're more likely to offer an apology that works.
3. The Apology. When you’re back together and the time is right, sit close, and hold each other's gaze. Stay in touch with your "been there, felt that” experience. Why? Because an apology is not an intellectual exercise. You want your partner to hear the emotion in your voice, see it on your face, and feel it in your touch. It's called empathy, and it means you get it. Without empathy, you wind up sounding robotic, as if you're lining out items on a To Do list. Keep your apology short, slow, and tender. Leave out the excuses and the explanations. “I see how uncomfortable I made you by being late. I know how much the event meant to you, and I let you down. I'm really sorry.” Don't go on and on about what it looked like on your end: “I’m sorry I did that. I wasn't at my best. It was my stress talking. I had a brutal day, plus I had a killer headache. I’m so sorry!” The goal is to focus on your partner not you.
4. The Aftermath. Ask for feedback about how your apology landed. Is your partner still tense or did they relax (e.g., shoulders softening followed by a long exhale)? Is there more to say? Take your time. The goal is for you both to feel understood and cared about. if you're uncertain you covered all the bases, ask, and then supply whatever's missing. Often, it's a heartfelt summary of your partner's perspective that ends with, “I get how much I hurt you, and I'm really sorry.” It's not rocket science. It's about being witnessed. Heard. Felt. Gotten.
5. Looking ahead. Once you're sure the apologies did their job, come up with suggestions for how you might do better in the future. Start by talking about yourself. “I'll call if I'm running late rather than dodging you.” Or, “I'll stop looking at my phone when we’re together.” Or, “I'll put you before my folks.” As for your partner’s suggestions for you, listen up. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, listen harder. Get clear on what’s being asked. A negative reaction might mean your partner is right on target. Last but not least, put your money where your mouth is. If you don't do what you promise, your carefully crafted apology goes nowhere. Even worse, empty promises erode trust over time.

Follow these guidelines and your apologies will be more likely to have an impact. Don't be surprised if you hear your partner say something like, “Well, thanks, babe. It’s not like I’m perfect or anything. It's okay. We're good.” Once you've got it down, be brave and revisit some of your old wounds. If they continue to cause you pain and trouble, guess what? There’s more healing to do. Get used to it. You’re two different people with two different sets of wants and needs. You're bound to clash and hurt one another. Exploring your injuries, both past and present, is a pathway to deeper connection. As for those half-baked, C- repairs, well, they just don't do the job. Go for the A, a heartfelt apology that soothes and gets you going in a better direction, making your relationship stronger than ever.

 

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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Jane "Q" walks down the hallway to her office, barely nodding to her assistant as she closes the door.  At her computer, she pulls up a half-finished project and recalls her distraction at lunch. Hopefully, the clients hadn't noticed.

But what if they did?

She exhales audibly, eyeing the boxes in the corner of her office. Another late night. Is she going to make it at this place? Does she even care? For a long minute, before getting down to work, she imagines just walking away.

Life In The Boiler Room

Pressure, overwork, boredom, escape fantasies. Unfortunately, familiar topics to many professionals. And while it's important to be aware of demands that can make work feel like a straight-jacket, it's equally important not to hold the job liable for personal behavior patterns that have a history all their own. Sometimes it's easier to seek refuge in the darker aspects of our professions than face our own fears and vulnerabilities.

Jane was doing that. In her initial sessions, she was convinced that it was her job--the deadlines, the politics, the pressure, the personalities. She told me about a similar experience at another office. We explored her anxiety and depression from that perspective, specifically, that work was the problem. Still no relief. Jane's symptoms persisted. She continued to monitor everyone's tone and facial expression for the least sign of trouble and found little pleasure at the office regardless of how well she performed.

Jane wasn't able to see it at first, but something had left its imprint and kept her responding in a certain way--a way that was self-defeating, but one that she knew and faithfully repeated day after day, effortlessly, mindlessly.

"Why Can't I Seem to Learn from Experience"

The concept of psychological templates distorting our present day experience has made sense to clinicians for years. Now the current stream of scientific research takes us further, showing that the "wetware" of the human brain contains mechanisms that allow neuronal connections to shift and change. This "rewirability" is basic to all learning, including un-learning patterns of behavior and thought in psychotherapy.

So why are the changes so hard?

Because most people arrive for therapy in a state of ambivalence. There's the conscious: "I definitely want to reduce my stress levels" versus the unconscious "but not if we have to explore that! " The therapist must push through this wall of resistance so characteristic defensive maneuvers can be identified and given up. Once Jane Q. was able to get past her particular defenses, her symptoms disappeared. And though Jane's situation is unique, many of us can easily identify with her confusion and inability to get things right. Who hasn't been on auto-pilot, invoking attitudes, positions, strategies, and behaviors simply because they are familiar?

Many dissatisfied professionals feel imprisoned in a suit of character armor: "I've always been this way. What's the use?" But what is "character" other than a product of past and present choices? To decide that we are somehow stuck where we are is to ignore the fluidity of the human personality or worse, to confuse one's defenses with one's essence. If you are an ambivalent professional--feeling the conflict between avoidance or denial on the one hand and the wish to improve on the other--you may want to ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I scapegoating my work by projecting my own shortcomings onto it? Rather than tackling my limitations head-on, do I avoid them by bad-mouthing my career?
  
• Is my work really so depressing? Or have I always been somewhat depressed? Similarly, is my work really so stressful, or have I always been a worrier? Moody? Quick to anger? Withdrawn? Critical? Controlling? A procrastinator? Am I right to suppose that things would be different in another job? In another field? Or would I drag my problems with me into the next position?
• If the problem lies with me, how ready am I to make a change? Would I be willing to consider looking at the ways that I handle confrontation and anger? Disappointment and sadness? Closeness and intimacy?
  

Reality tells us that our problems and dissatisfactions are a mixture of both external and internal factors.

Reality also tells us that although change is uncomfortable, it is not impossible. Honest introspection cannot provide the keys to the kingdom, but it can better equip us to make critical distinctions between internal and external, past and present. Without the ability to make such distinctions, we may be condemned to a life of avoidance and finger-pointing, never being sure we've managed to identify the real culprit.

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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What did you do the last time you were angry?

Did you withdraw into a cold, stony silence and fantasize revenge? Or did you become insulting and verbally abusive? Slam a door? Throw a glass? Hurt someone physically?

Or did you just move to tears and hopelessness?

The price we pay for out of control anger is steep. We destroy love and friendship, scar our children, turn off important business contacts, generate physical symptoms and undermine our own sense of well-being.

So what to do?

For starters, we need to make a distinction between angry behavior and the actual physical experience of anger—something that is not destructive but an important emotion that supplies critical data we all need to make intelligent decisions. The off-putting behaviors that we mistakenly label "anger" are not anger but our attempts to contain or avoid it. Anger as pure feeling is nothing more (and nothing less) than a particular pathway of physical sensations in the body. Outbursts or giving someone the silent treatment are NOT the feeling of anger but the “acting out” of anger.

If anger is so useful then why do so many of us have negative reactions to it?

If you're hysterical, it's historical

While we may not like to admit it, our families of origin have had an enormous impact on us—for better or worse—and it’s all about conditioning. Whatever comes out of the Chevy factory, looks and drives like a Chevy; whatever comes out of the Honda factory, looks and drives like a Honda; and whatever comes out of the Smith Family looks and acts like a "Smith"—meaning a person who's been taught to handle his/her feelings in a certain way.

In your family, maybe only Dad was allowed to be angry. So when you were angry you got uncomfortable, anxious and tried hard to be nice. In other words, you pushed away your anger—a reflexive fear-based response designed to avoid Dad's wrath. This defense—compliant avoidance—is a sad but practical strategy when you’re little.

Such responses are repeated through childhood until they become entrenched. We become phobic of our intense feelings the way some people are phobic about spiders or elevators. As emotion phobics we continue to avoid, hide and cover up our anger as though we’re still dependent children. At one point, these defenses were adaptive, but now as we push the feelings down, they pop back up with a vengeance—like a beach ball under water—in some unpredictable ways. What was originally anger has now morphed into a depression, anxiety, psychosomatic illness or a variety of self-defeating behaviors. And, because we never process the underlying rage, nothing gets resolved. We’re left on an emotional treadmill, treating others and ourselves as if we’re all characters out of our pasts. Whenever we do that, we can’t help but repeat the past.

Why can’t we break free?

The Importance of Experiencing Emotion

Actually, you can break free and make your anger and other emotions work for you. Anger should not be your captor but your liberator. It can give you clarity and motivation to protect yourself. But—unlike popular prescriptions of slapping band-aids on your overblown reactions—a thorough-going, emotion-oriented therapy painstakingly focuses on the actual physical experience of anger in your body right in the session. Pivotal current and past life events are explored from an experiential—rather than an intellectual—perspective. You are encouraged to focus on bodily sensation connected with feeling rather than just thinking about it and presenting a narrative.

You may be wondering: "Even if I do experience anger, sadness, pain and guilt in my sessions, what good will it do? The past is the past. My boss, my family, my friends will continue to do all the same things that annoy me!"

Yes, of course they will! Other people are not going to change but once you really let yourself connect with your core emotions, process them on a deep level by letting them flow through your body, options open up, angles you’ve never considered enter your mind, new strengths begin to emerge. We get guidance from our feelings. Our emotions are an internal compass that help make us more rational decision-makers.

Does emotion-oriented therapy work?

Yes, it does. And surprisingly fast. An accumulation of more than twenty years of videotaped research with clinical follow up conducted at Harvard, Dalhousie, and McGill universities has shown that experiencing warded-off emotion in this way—whether it is rage, guilt or sadness—stops self-destructive behaviors and relieves anxiety and depression.
 
Can you fix this by yourself?
If you could have, you would have. The reason you haven't is because there's a part of you that is afraid to revisit the old hurts and feel the old rage, pain, grief and guilt.

The price of turning away from our emotional selves is enormous. We can end up less successful, less effective, more isolated, more anxious, more depressed or even in physical pain. You don’t have to go through life stuffing your anger or erupting. If you work to get more comfortable with the bodily sensations that accompany all of your feelings—the goal of emotion-oriented therapy—you can be free of self-defeating behaviors and live the life you’ve always wanted.

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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The older we get, the more we experience loss. We lose competitions, we lose jobs, we lose friends, we lose loved ones--in the end, we lose everything. There is no escape.

Though losses come randomly, sometimes with devastating unpredictability, we can learn to create new meaning if we grieve fully and allow the body’s natural, self-righting processes to heal us.

Whether you are mourning the end of a relationship or the loss of a loved one, it is natural to be full of feeling. For some of us, the feelings just seem to flow, for others, there is constriction-- a clamping down or flattening out of the emotion. If we further dampen our feelings by masking or numbing them, telling ourselves that we can’t tolerate the pain, they can no longer guide us. Though we may have avoided our feelings for years, their energy is still available, ready to heal us whenever we are ready to work with our pain.

Instead of turning away, we can embrace our sorrow. End of life rituals and ceremonies are designed to help us with mourning. We talk about our loved one at a funeral, memorializing him or her in prayer and eulogy. But, after the formal mourning period ends, there is still much grieving to do. We doubt that we will ever feel happy again--life seems meaningless, the world strange and out of balance. Here, we need patience. Grieving is a process that takes time. It means that we honor all of our feelings by turning our attention to the sensations that flow through our body whenever they are there. We allow each wave of emotion to rise and fall and bring us closer to healing.

If you take a moment right now and bring your loss to mind, you might notice some sadness in your body. Sadness often feels like a lump in the throat, a heaviness in the chest, or pressure behind the eyes, as if you are about to cry. See if you can sit with your sadness until you feel some release. Be kind to yourself. Don’t judge your grief or pain. Let it be whatever it is. You may notice a mix of feelings--guilt and anger may be there as well. The more you cared about the person you have lost, the more intense the feelings are bound to be. Invite them in and get to know each one.

By denying or avoiding grief, we are at risk for developing anxiety, depression or psychosomatic illness. We may also find ourselves sabotaging new relationships by engaging in self-defeating behaviors that keep us from moving forward. If we never really say goodbye, we create a pathological type of mourning that stretches out indefinitely. We know in our heads that our loved one is not returning, but that is not enough.

As a therapist who has worked extensively with grief and loss, I can help as you face the final farewell. If you are someone who has moved away from your deepest grief, I will invite you to notice the ways you avoid feeling--some of which may not even be conscious. Together we will encourage you to move past your avoidance into your core feelings so that you can embrace the full meaning of your loss and let vitality and joy re-enter your life.

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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IS IT THE JOB

Are you surprised to hear that the practice of law is among the most stressful occupations in America? When asked what factors most accounted for their work dissatisfaction, attorneys cited:

• billables
• economic worries
• ethical dilemmas
• limited opportunity
• adversarial process
• reduced professionalism
• competitive work environment
• pressure to get business

Even though the negatives are there, your coping style may be making things worse.

IS IT YOU?

Sometimes it's easier to see the shortcomings of our profession than the stumbling blocks we place in our own paths.
Ask yourself these questions:

Do I have . . .

• a fear of being "found out?"
• unreasonably high expectations?
  
• a need to control or dominate?
  
• trouble sleeping?
  

Do I . . .

• take a back seat in groups?
  
• react before the facts are in?
• eat, drink or smoke to excess?
• engage in constant self-attack?

Am I . . .

• overly sensitive or shy?
• easily irritated or moody?
• excessively critical or aggressive
• anxious or depressed?

WHAT TO DO?

There are solutions. Although the pressures can seem overwhelming at times, you don't need to suffer. Why not explore your concerns in a completely confidential, one-on-one setting?
 
Straight talk about your issues:

• Whether you're someone who deliberately lies low . . . or are the "go to" person buried in work.
• Whether you're constantly talking . . . or are slow to speak up.
• Whether you're always worried about approval . . . or are unfazed by even legitimate criticism.

Your dissatisfaction may be a confusing tangle of internal and external factors, but it doesn't have to be.

Rather than going it alone, shouldn't you find out what you can do to make the week go better?

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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In February 2014, World Psychiatry published the results of a study underscoring the value of combining psychotropic medication with psychotherapy.

In this meta-analysis of 3,623 depressed or anxious adults from 52 randomized clinical trials, the effects of treatment with antidepressant medication were compared to the effects of treatment with both pharmacotherapy and talk therapy. The findings demonstrated that the combination of therapy and medication was superior and more effective than treatment with antidepressant medication alone. "Therapy with medication alone may not constitute optimal care for common mental disorders." World Psychiatry, 2014 Feb: 13 (1): 56-56.

Although medications promise rapid relief and provide a "floor," preventing what can feel like a frightening emotional free-fall for distressed individuals, psychotropic drugs can only relieve symptoms. The self is unchanged, and the underlying conditions and psychological processes that led to the emotional distress are still part of the personality structure. If it were simply a matter of correcting chemical imbalances, we would expect the results of the meta-analysis to show no significant difference between those receiving medication only and those receiving both medication and therapy. Instead, the addition of talk therapy produced superior results.

The current stream of scientific research goes further than the results published in World Psychiatry. We now know that the human brain contains mechanisms that allow our neuronal connections to shift and change. This "rewirability," basic to all learning - including learning in therapy - allows us to unlearn maladaptive thought/behavior patterns and develop new associations and connections that lead to emotional well-being, ultimately eliminating the need for medication.

If you are currently on anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication, you might want to reflect on your characteristic defenses: withdrawal and isolation, persistent irritability, helplessness (feeling victimized by life), hopelessness (resignation), intellectualization (philosophizing to avoid feelings), rationalization, avoidance, denial, procrastination, or projection - to name a few. These defenses, most of which operate out of conscious awareness, become the problem. They create a wall around our ingrained maladaptive patterns and so prevent in-depth examination and resolution.

Without a therapist's challenge to the wall of defense and resistance, one may be left with debilitating anxiety or depression that is only masked - not resolved - by medication.

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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Diana Shulman (Research Psychoanalyst, Medical Board of California, Division of Allied Health Professionals, R.P. #41) has over 25 years of experience in working with both individuals and couples on a broad range of issues.

Dr. Shulman received her J.D. from Boston University and her Ph.D.in psychoanalysis from California Graduate Institute which has merged with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is the author of numerous articles highlighting the connection between psychoanalytic principles and short-term psychotherapy. She offers one-on-one supervision to clinicians interested in mastering brief psychoanalytic work.

Dr. Shulman practiced law for over 10 years before becoming a psychotherapist. She has given workshops and seminars for the California State Bar on stress and burn-out, procrastination, relationship dissatisfaction, career imbalance and related topics. In her clinical practice, she has helped men and women from all walks of life resolve a variety of personal and career-related problems. As an adjunct to her therapy practice, Dr. Shulman offers coaching and counseling services.

Dr. Shulman is one of a select group of therapists who has been certified in both Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Gottman Method Therapy, research-based approaches backed by decades of work with thousands of couples. Dr. Shulman uses this body of research to help couples overcome anxiety, defensiveness and resistance to change, be it conscious or unconscious.
 

Specializing in:

• Relationship problems
• Anxiety disorders
• Depression
• Psychosomatic illness
• Relationship problems
• Self-esteem
• Personal growth
• Career-related issues

Education, Training and Memberships:

• Over 25 years in private practice
• 10+ years as a practicing attorney
• Ph.D. Psychoanalysis, California Graduate Institute
• J.D., Boston University School of Law
• Clinical Member: National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
• Member: International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association
• Certified Gottman Couple Therapist
• Certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples
• Certified AEDP Therapist
• Certified EMDR Therapist

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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Individual Therapy
Sessions are 50 to 80 minutes long. As far as style, I'm active throughout the session in questioning you and giving you feedback about personality style, defense, and resistance. Together we'll try to make sense of why you're having difficulties and outline what we can do about it. I'm committed to working as efficiently and as rapidly as possible so that you spend no more time in therapy than is necessary.
 
Forms for individual therapy: Will be provided through the telehealth platform. 

Couples Therapy
We need to do a thorough assessment of relationship strengths and weaknesses so that the areas we target are not based on guesswork. With this in mind, we will have 4 sessions devoted solely to information gathering. Our first session (80 to 85 minutes) will be spent exploring each of your hopes and fears about therapy; the history of your relationship; and some areas of current difficulty. After this first session, you will each complete a detailed on-line questionnaire and have an individual session (50 to 55 minutes) during which we will discuss your individual history as well as any other topics you consider relevant. Once I've reviewed the results from your completed questionnaires, we'll schedule a second couples meeting to go over the treatment plan and jointly decide which issues to give our immediate attention.
 
Forms for couples therapy: Will be provided through the telehealth platform.

Payment and Insurance
Payment is made at the end of each session at the rate of $300 for 50 minutes, $450 for 80 minutes. If you wish to be reimbursed by an insurer, I will provide a statement for you to submit at the end of each month so that all reimbursement is paid directly to you, however, I cannot guarantee reimbursement as this matter is entirely in the hands of the insurer. Please determine whether or not your carrier will provide reimbursement for telehealth services rendered by Diana Shulman, PhD (Research Psychoanalyst, RP #41, Medical Board of California; NPI#1629277355) for the following services/procedure codes:
    - Family (Couples) Therapy - CPT 90847-95
    - Individual Therapy - CPT 90834-95
    - Individual Therapy - CPT 90837-95

© 2024 Diana Shulman

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If you'd like to get a better handle on something that's bothering you—whether it's individual or couple, work-related or purely personal, please feel free to email me at DrDiana@dianashulman.com and let me know some good times to reach you by phone.

Practice limited to telehealth for California residents.

© 2024 Diana Shulman