Clinical Psychologist

Deborah Willson Bilder,Ph.D.

Dr. Bilder’s Psychotherapy Approach

My treatment approach can best be described as contemporary psychoanalytic psychotherapy, with additional techniques borrowed from cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, family systems theory, and psycho-education.  I also give special attention to the impact of culture on psychological well being.  When appropriate, referrals are provided to collaborating professionals such as to psychiatrists and nutritionists. 

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a psychological treatment in which insight and emotional working through of deeply held conflicts or emotional blocks takes place within the  relationship with the therapist.  The therapy is used to explore the psychological origins of current emotional difficulties, and to build upon and expand the range of emotional experiences in a person’s life.  The relationship with the therapist is a fundamental part of the therapy, and a means for developing a broader experience of oneself and oneself in relationships.

Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy techniques are used to help a person recognize and change habitual, but limiting, ways of thinking and behaving.  They are also used to strengthen healthy, growth-producing thoughts and behaviors.  These can be thought of as coping tools.  It is important to help people identify strategies in the here-and-now that they can use to help manage their specific life challenges.  This is especially true when there are difficult and sometimes dangerous behaviors such as in eating disorders, self-harm, and suicidality, but also with stressful emotions such as anxiety, and depression

Family-systems psychological theories highlight the ways that individuals function inherently within groups and subgroups.  Emotional difficulties can rarely be completely appreciated without an understanding of the ways a person fits into their larger family system.  This appreciation can inform work with individuals, as well as guide sessions with adolescents and their parents.

Psycho-education involves including education about emotional processes and behavior to help bolster a person’s overall knowledge and understanding about themselves.  With eating disorders this includes education about  food, appetite, and nutrition, as well as cultural information about the ways that our current culture can foster unhealthy attitudes towards women’s and men’s bodies and overall self acceptance.