David George Neale-Lorello, PhD

My practice focuses on work with creative persons -- artists, musicians, writers, etc., of all stripes, whether professional or avocational. The perspective I take in this work is that artists have, through their creative efforts, developed insights and skills that apply readily to life, but in ways that are not always obvious. It is my experience that many of the concerns that creative persons bring to psychotherapy arise from having bought into our culture's myths about artists or the compartmentalization of their creative work. My patients often find they are much more adept and capable than they initially believed themselves to be. More generally, my work is based on several premises about the nature of being human: that people strive to better ourselves and seek intimate emotional connection, that both of those endeavors are intrinsically painful, that our ways of coping with that pain work better in some situations than in others, and that expanding our options for coping reduces pain and increases our experience of joy and satisfaction. Technically, my therapeutic style pulls from several different perspectives. I work to integrate, in a structured, meaningful, and empirically sound way, a range of clinical theories, including existential, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, and mindfulness-based orientations. Which of these are emphasized in my work with a given patient is determined by that person's unique interpersonal style, concerns, and goals.

Practice Overview

Professional Affiliations

• Memberships: - Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts - Society for Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration - Maryland Psychology Association

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