Deborah Berman (she, her)

After several years as a chldren's librarian I trained as a clinical social worker at The Smith School for Social Work graduating with an MSW in 1992. I appreciated the program's focus on long interships and intense academic work during three summers. My thesis in this program was about the exploration of my ethnic roots entitled Roots to Roots:Evolving an ethnic identity.

Training at Smith included exposure to the classial theories of Freud, Klein, Object Relations and Self Psychology. My passion was for the work of D W. Winnicott. I was especially attracted to his rejection of scientific and abstract language and a search for simple terms to describe his basic principles. His ideas about "the good enough mother, transitional objects and hate in the counertransference" inform my daily practice. I also use them directly with patients to help them gain nuanced and helpful understanding of themselves. I find his emphasis on kindness and love to be refreshing and these concepts inform my understanding of the therapeutic process.

The work of Richie Davis, PhD has also had a strong inflluence on my approach to emotional challenges. He was one of the early psychologists to be interested in the practices of the Dalia Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. He approaches the issue of affect through work in the laboratory. He calls himself and 'affectiveneuropsychologist' and is interested in 'happiness' and the emotional contentment the comes with meditation. While I don't 'prescribe' meditation, the work of Davis helps me understand emotions and their relationship to brain activity . This has helped me fine tune my responses to patients. I often say very little but patients seem to be very connected to the process and satisfied with results.

I have continued my interest in my own ethnic roots. Thorugh this work I have developed fruitful relaionships with an international group of patients. I focus on language, the rhythm and rates of speech and choice of vocabulary. Beyond all the theories I believe the effectiveness of therapy is rooted in the connection between therapist and patient. I don't know exactly how that is learned but I think I have developed that skill. It is the most valuable thing I have to offer. When a patient feels heard they in turn hear and understand themselves afresh.