These words from an old song reflect an important truth. People need others
for casual contact, companionship, and intimate relationships. Even when
extraordinary circumstances produce isolation, in order to survive, a person
may create imaginary companions. (Recall Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway.
Isolated on a deserted island, he maintains his sanity by befriending a
volleyball he names “Wilson.”)
In order for a person to feel safe, secure, happy, and fulfilled, he or she
needs successful relationships with other people. But good relationships can
be difficult to establish. They require a lot of work to maintain, and it is
common for people to run into problems. Sometimes a person can be having
relationship problems and not even know it! The stresses created by
relationship problems may be experienced as mood symptoms (e.g. anxiety and
depression) or physical symptoms (e.g. unexplained pain or sleeplessness).
Relationship problems can make it difficult to function at work or take care
of responsibilities at home. They can take the joy out of life.
For people who feel disconnected from others, or isolated and lonely,
talking with a professional can be a big step toward improving interactions
and relationships with other people. Psychotherapy can be used to help you
build satisfying relationships at work and in your personal life.
For people struggling with problems in their intimate relationships, it is
important to try to talk about them. This dialogue can lead to greater
closeness and fulfillment. For others, this discussion can lead you to
decide you need Couple’s Therapy for assistance. Many times one person wants
help while the other thinks that there is no problem, feels helpless to
change it, doesn’t “believe in” therapy, or just refuses to ask for help.
When you know your relationship needs help but the other person cannot or
will not participate, all is not lost! While couple’s therapy might be the
most efficient way to change an intimate relationship, it is still possible
for one person to improve things. As Albert Einstein noted about the
relationships of connected elements, if one element in a system changes, the
whole system changes.
Jeffrey L. Binder, Ph.D., ABPP
770-953-4744 ext. 42
Whether working in Individual or Couple’s Therapy, Dr. Jeffrey L. Binder,
Ph.D., ABPP, is highly experienced at assessing and treating relationship
problems. He has over thirty years of experience in helping individuals and
couples overcome problems in their relationships. He has co-authored a
classic text on Brief Psychotherapy, as well as authored an acclaimed new
book on Brief Psychotherapy (for a review,
http://www.amazon.com/Key -
Competencies-Brief-Dynamic-
Psychotherapy/dp/product-
description/1593850581).
He has taught psychology and psychiatry students at the University of
Michigan, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University and, currently,
at Argosy University in Atlanta.
Dr. Binder believes that establishing a respectful, involved, and
collaborative relationship with each patient creates the most effective
working environment. Together, Dr. Binder and his patients identify core
issues associated with the relationship problems and these issues become the
focus of therapeutic work. People are helped to develop, or to discover in
themselves, useful skills for managing and being in relationships in healthy
and satisfying ways. Dr. Binder has recently decreased his
academic/administrative responsibilities, so he has immediate openings for
Individual and Couple’s therapy. He can be reached at 770-953-4744 ext. 42.
He has appointments at his Buckhead office on Peachtree Road.
Dr. Cecilia
Phillips-Binder works with adults in individual and couples therapy.
She addresses problems commonly faced in today’s hectic and
stress-ridden modern world, including relationship issues,
self-image and body image concerns, women’s issues, life
transitions, and personal growth. She also works with the common
conditions of depression, anxiety, grief and loss, trauma, and
stress management. Dr. Phillips-Binder has a special interest in
helping women as they develop a career and manage romantic, marital,
and parenting aspirations.
Dr. Phillips-Binder has extensive experience working with people who
have chronic and serious physical illnesses, such as cancer,
cardiovascular disease, and pulmonary disease. She has a special
interest in helping people manage the psychological difficulties of
terminal illness.
Dr. Phillips-Binder believes that mood, thinking, and behavior are
all affected by a sense of belonging and closeness in important
relationships. “Very early in our lives we develop patterns in the
ways we relate to people close to us. These patterns persist into
adulthood and affect the quality of our relationships. We also
construct a self-image based on interactions in our important early
relationships, which affects how we feel, think, and behave in
relationship to our self…how we take care of ourselves.” Coming from
this perspective, Dr. Phillips Binder emphasizes that the primary
goals of psychotherapy include identifying and changing problematic
relationship patterns and improving self-image. “My experience
suggests that as clients develop greater awareness of themselves and
how they relate to others and greater acceptance of themselves,
their symptoms tends to diminish and they tend to experience
decreased stress and increased capacity for creativity, joy, and
fulfillment in their lives.”
Dr. Phillips-Binder’s believes that psychotherapy is a collaborative
process. Further, providing safety, acceptance, and honesty is an
important part of the therapy since, “Clients can only explore the
difficult and very personal issues that are important to their lives
within a safe, collaborative environment.”
Dr. Phillips-Binder was inspired to become a psychotherapist while
working as a research assistant on one of the major psychotherapy
research projects conducted during the 1980’s. As a single mother of
two teenagers, she received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from
Vanderbilt University in 1995. Dr. Phillips-Binder recently moved to
Atlanta from Nashville, Tennessee, where she was in clinical
practice for twelve years. For the past ten years, in her private
practice she specialized in working with professionals in business,
health care, entertainment, and academics, as well as their family
members. She joined PFPA in the Spring, 2007 and has immediate
openings for people seeking individual or couples therapy in the
Buckhead and Marietta offices.
