Hi, I’m Benjamin Spencer.
My work as a psychotherapist helps adults and adolescents change their relationship with their emotions, their thoughts, their past, themselves, and with others.
See below for detailed information about what I treat, who I treat, and how I treat.
A Functional Approach
All behavior, destructive or not, serves a function. And its usually rooted in an unmet need. In my work with clients, we look past what the behavior is, and explore what it is trying to achieve. Once we figure out what your behavior is telling us, we can work on finding a safer way to meet that need.
My Specialties
Traumatic Stress
Trauma—whether from specific events or a culmination of problematic childhood relationships—can inform our beliefs and our patterns of behavior. Trauma therapy frees clients to live in the present by giving the past its due attention without allowing it to dictate the future.
Read more about how I treat traumatic stress disorders here.
Compulsive Behaviors
Compulsions such as gambling, drugs, compulsive sex, etc. may wreak havoc on relationships, jobs, and families, but the detriment to one’s sense of self cannot be understated. For clients who are at their wits end because no matter how much they want to stop, they can’t, psychotherapy can help.
Read more about how I treat compulsive behaviors here.
Impulsive or Destructive Behavior
For adults and adolescents who struggle with anger, impulsivity, lashing out, severe ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, or conduct disorders, a purely behavioral approach is often not sufficient.
Learn more about how I help adolescents and adults overcome challenging and destructive behaviors here.