Dr. Brown’s Philosophy

• I became a therapist because I believe in the human capacity to change and I see my role as a facilitator of change.
• My philosophy towards my work has been largely shaped by two seminal experiences.
• The first was during my training at Philadelphia Child Guidance Center. It led me to look systemically at issues, seeing them in a broader context and forced me to look for pragmatic solutions for what oftentimes seemed like overwhelming problems.
• The second was as a part of the School District of Philadelphia’s crisis response team. I saw first-hand how the lives of so many children could be impacted by unforeseen events and how some of us experience many more of these than others.
• As a result, some see their lives without possibility and others are resilient and appear to triumph in spite of what life has dealt them.
• With these two experiences forming the foundation of my orientation, my focus is on accessing existing skills and developing new ones.
• My aim is to create a knowledge base sufficient to help others deal with unexpected and expected challenges, to the extent possible.
• Sometimes the work involves understanding that a challenging situation is a predictable and normal part of life.
• When situations you encounter are untenable, my goal is to foster a level of resiliency that enables you to come through these challenges relatively unscathed or a lot wiser in dealing with a similar situation more effectively in the future.
• The aim is to facilitate reasonable solutions in a timely manner.
• Beginning with the end in mind, what is the ultimate goal, and what are the efforts that are necessary and sufficient to reach it?