Evaluation and Diagnostic Assessment

Comprehensive assessment is the first step in developing a treatment plan. During your initial visit(s) Dr. Cruz reviews a person's reasons for seeking treatment, their previous history of treatment, their family's history, any medically related issues, the person's developmental history and their current social interpersonal history.  Standards assessment tools including a mental status examination, Mini-Mental State, Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, and other instruments are sometimes incorporated into the assessment.  

Individual Psychotherapy

Therapy is a relationship that promotes healing, growth, and self-understanding.  It is always tailored to the particular needs of each client. Dr. Cruz works with.   Dr. Cruz uses an eclectic approach that borrows upon various traditions including Self Psychology, Psychoanalytic Theory, Jungian Psychology, Cognitive-Behavioral therapy, Rational Emotive Therapy, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, Christian Contemplative Practices, Mindfulness Practices, Eastern Contemplative Traditions, Enneagram Work,  and other approaches.

Mood & Anxiety Disorders

Dr. Cruz treats a variety of mood disorders including Major Depression, Dysthymic Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder, and Cyclothymic Disorder.  He also treats anxiety disorders that include Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Phobias (including Social Phobia).  He also treats individuals dealing with moderate stress that is temporarily interfering with optimum health and deals with more severe disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Habitual Patterns ( Neurotic Disorders )

People enter therapy for many different reasons. Often, as a result of our innate temperament combined with early experiences, we develop habitual patterns of perceiving ourselves and the world around us. Later, when these habitual patterns fail to help us adapt, we seem unable to srrender them in favor of better strategies for living. Despite the failed results, we continue to do what doesn't work, hoping for a different result. That is at the core of the neurotic struggle. Therapy should go beyond simply exploring our early conflicts in order to equip us to deal more effectively and fruitfully with the present.

Intractable Patterns ( Personality Disorders )

Some people develop habits of thought and conduct that are very poorly adapted to living. Their patterns may become so deeply entrenched as to seem almost completely inflexible despite the suffering they cause for themselves and others. People suffering personality disorders fail to understand how their own actions distort their relationships and the world around them in ways that perpetuate their painful existence. The primary difference between the person suffering neurotic disorders and personality disorders involves the following elements:

Pervasive disturbance in functioning and perceptions
Maladaptive patterns are more firmly fixed
People with personality disorders are prone to locate problems outside themselves
The suffering of people with personality disorders is often imposed on others (more than with neurotic suffering)
Growth and Human Potential

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a vehicle for achieving a better quality of life. The goals and objectives are very personal and will differ for each person. Frequently, a person enters psychotherapy to deal with specific difficulties they are experiencing.  Some individuals use therapy as a vehicle for self-development. Many individuals have a desire to unfold in accord with their fullest potential. Therapy fosters and encourages deeper self awareness that can result in a more meaningful, authentic existence. In ancient Greece, a person might go to the Oracle at Delphi to dream and to illuminate their inner space. With Sigmnd Freud's discovery of the unconscious, therapy has been identified as a professional practice.

Dr. Cruz encourages his clients to view therapy in a broader, richer context.  He believes therapy is never just about what happens in the therapist's consulting room.  In its broadest sense, therapy encompasses our streams of thought, our reflections, our action, our relationships, and everything else that contributes to making us who we are.  To paraphrase Socrates, "The examined life is well worth living."  

Couples Counseling


Being part of a couple is natural and can be a powerful instrument for personal development.  Tragically, it is often a source of pain and suffering. Dr. Cruz encourages couples in distress to understand the forces contributing to difficulties.  He often uses elements of Myers-Briggs Typology and Transactional Analysis to help couples understand one anther better.  His approach is informed by the approaches of Carl Jung, Harville Hendrix, Gary Chapman, and John Gottman & Julie Schwarz Gottman.  

Temperament differences often draw individuals together only to drive them apart after the courtship is over.  Many couples do not understand how their own parents helped shape the expectations they have of a partner. Couples who enter therapy with Dr. Cruz may be surprised by his direct manner that tries to bring understanding and consideration to relationships. Couples learn to recognize when they are projecting onto one another.  and may learn how we make bids for what we want.  And they may use the counseling to improve their skills in resolving conflicts.   

Medication Evaluation

Area physicians and therapists have come to respect and appreciate Dr. Cruz's sensitivity and skill in evaluating patients for possible medication intervention. The foundation of effective prescribing involves a comprehensive, multifaceted assessment. Consultations are provided for a host of disorders including:

 

Skills Training

Clients often find that a practical approach aimed at developing specific skills for living can be very useful. For a variety of reasons, people may reach their adult years with inadequate skills for dealing with a variety of situations in their daily lives. Sometimes, with focused and structured approaches a client gains proficiency that leads to less psychological distress and greater satisfaction. Assertiveness Training, Social Skills Training, Anger Management, Mindfulness Training and Emotion Regulation are some of the specific areas of skills training that Dr. Cruz may utilize.


Substance Abuse Counseling

Substance abuse is a frequent cause or associated problem that contributes to a client's difficulties. The abuse of substances is often a hidden, destructive part of people's problems. Many people either fail to recognize or refuse to accept the degree to which substance abuse ravages their lives. The abuse of substances can cause some of the disorders that Dr. Cruz treats and where substance abuse is not a primary cause, if it is present, it is virtually always an obstacle to effective treatment. There are many models of treatment for substance abuse but Dr. Cruz believes that none rival the 12-Step approach to dealing with the disease. Apart from the testimony provided by decades of recovering alcoholics, he believes that 12-Step programs like AA and NA offer a place for honest fellowship that undoes the damage of toxic shame. In addition, 12-Step programs provide guidance for living and a sound framework for dealing with the daily trials of life. Dr. Cruz's work with people struggling with substance abuse blends a no nonsense approach without shame, judgment or naïveté. Since Dr. Cruz maintains an exclusively outpatient practice he does not conduct detox programs for narcotics, tranquilizers, stimulants, or alcohol.