Dr. Bonn – Beliefs About Therapy

Mental health therapy is a journey of increasing clarification and integration of coping tools for self-regulation of symptoms, positive mindfulness and more purposeful living.

Therapists must be effective clarifiers and guides in this search. Just as crucial are the patient’s own efforts. Therapists are equal partners in each therapy effort. We therapists are not infallible and we must be able to face, respect and even welcome critical feedback.

Teaching the understanding and self-regulation of the mind-body interaction is often overlooked in therapy, even though it can often be a profoundly important factor in long-term
anxiety control and in the management of chronic pain.

Solid self esteem cannot be gotten from chemicals, or even from material success, but rather from usefulness to others, purposeful living, and connection to greater things beyond the limits of one’s own life situation.

I try to make room in the session for humor and appropriate irreverence.

Combined medication and talk therapy from the same therapist can often yield benefit even when other treatments have failed. Talk therapy with an experienced psychiatrist may sometimes offer the best value for therapy.

I have gained deep satisfaction from my life in psychiatric practice and from the fact that my understanding only grows deeper with the years.