Douglas Drew, MA, LICSW

Welcome to my web site. I want to offer you information about the work I am now focusing on.

Weight loss and body weight management are the primary subjects of my video-based counseling, where attention is focused on the psychological factors (e.g., stress, self-esteem, low mood, anxiety, impulsivity, low motivation, work and family pressures, etc.) that contribute to, or interfere with, your success.  

After 35 years of providing general psychotherapy, my practice has now shifted to a subject I am passionate about: assisting and guiding those who wish to lose weight, and have found previous efforts to do so, unsuccessful. Our counseling will be covered by your insurance plan, because I will be working with you on issues related to your overall mental health, in which body image and body weight are very important factors. I fully welcome inquiries as to whether or not my services will be suitable to you, and arrangements for an initial interview can be arranged.

In my previous practice, I offered the following description of my work, which is still integrated into the work I do on weight management: Because I recognize each person as a whole, complex individual, I try to see each person and each set of difficulties in context. Proper resolution of problems often requires attention to the complexity--the emotional, physical, cognitive, spiritual, and interpersonal dimensions---of the client's experience. I offer diverse psychotherapeutic techniques because "one size does not fit all" when it comes to personal issues. I combine psychodynamic, cognitive, and existential approaches. My central orientation is phenomenological, which stresses the uniqueness of the individual, the client's language, and sources of meaning and purpose. The work I do currently on weight loss and body weight maintenance applies a structured set of steps for analyzing how and why weight loss has become a difficult challenge, and helps each client develop an individualized plan for effective weight loss.