Many individuals seek out my services because they find themselves stuck in a relationship with a person that is mistreating them, and yet they experience difficulty extricating themselves due to emotional attachment and other psychological factors.  I help these individuals to gain clarity about whether or not they truly want to let go and, if they do, I assist them in the process of detaching from these attachment figures.

In most cases this involves the use of ISTDP to end repetition compulsion. Repetition compulsion is a psychological phenomenon in which a person recreates the circumstances of past relationship in order to work through the unresolved feelings that got generated at that time. However, repeating abuse never solves anything. By resolving those feelings in therapy individuals are then able to let go of the unconscious compulsion to punish themselves by being with someone that resembles their abusive attachment figures.

Dealing with Breakups

The following video talks about how the same principles can be applied to letting go after a breakup, regardless of the nature of the relationship.