Clinical Psychology & Psychoanalysis
A different kind of therapy...
How It Works
The mind is a meaning-making engine. Psychoanalysis makes its patterns visible.
The Mind Creates Meaning
Every experience is filtered through a personal lens the mind constructs. This shapes what we feel, how we act, and who we become.
Patterns Take Root
Over time, these meanings solidify into repeating patterns of thought, feeling, and relating that feel like simply "how things are."
Patterns Surface in Treatment
The analytic setting makes these patterns visible as they play out in real time, creating the opportunity to examine them together.
Understanding Brings Change
When the roots of a pattern are truly understood — not just intellectually, but deeply felt — the mind is freed from the work of repeating it.
I'm a clinical psychologist and a trained psychoanalyst. I offer psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis to adults. When we're able to meet at least twice weekly consistently over time, it allows for a very engaging, very meaningful, and very effective process to occur. I make some attempts to describe "the how" and "the what" of that here, but I realize how unhelpful those descriptions can be. This video may be somewhat more helpful. What's important is this:
Psychoanalytic therapy is about getting to the root of things. It's the "deep dive" that people talk about wanting to take into themselves. It produces a full-feeling self-knowledge that resolves symptoms and can help you to change deeply engrained ways of being, thinking, and feeling. But it's important for you to know that it's not easy and does take work, commitment, and time.
Credentials
The credentials that support my practice are as follows: I hold a doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego which, in addition to my state granted license, qualifies me for the title of psychologist. I’m also a graduate of the five year psychoanalytic training program at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center which grants me the title of psychoanalyst. I meet regularly and often with a community of peers and mentors both here in Rochester and elsewhere in this country and abroad. I also participate in seminars led by accomplished teachers which focus on various themes central to the psychoanalytic literature. As for my involvement in professional organizations, I’m a voting member of the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center and the American Psychoanalytic Association, a full member of the International Psychoanalytical Association, and a member of the Genesee Valley Psychological Association.
Cost
The financial aspect of treatment really needs to be talked through in person. Though I still do accept some insurances, I am increasingly shifting my practice to a fee-for-service model. I know the cost of treatment is significant, but so too is its value. I offer consultations — at least two sessions within a week — as a chance to meet and get a feel for one another. If we can’t agree on a sustainable fee, I’ll charge $100 per appointment and, if desired, will help with referrals to other clinicians.
Call me — I’m happy to talk things through with you.
Dr. Lembaris's Office
