Functional Psychotherapy:
My approach to change
Dr. Jim Mosher, PhD, ABPP
What therapy is, to me
At its heart, therapy is a sacred place where we go to be vulnerable with ourselves in another’s presence.
The role of therapist will vary. There is no formula. Sometimes, we are the curious questioner; sometimes the mentor and guide; other times, we help you get outside your comfort zone.
No matter my role, to me, the best therapy is flexible, responsive, and creative. It is both serious and playful. There should be blood, sweat, and tears. You will laugh and cry.
“So, where do we start?”
I start most sessions with this phrase to emphasize that you are the active ingredient in your therapy. The more we embrace that every time we meet, the likelier our work changes your life. We'll continually focus on your deepest thoughts, feelings, and experiences while disrupting the defenses—both conscious and unconscious—that stand in your way.
Understanding the roots
People go to therapy because shit fucking sucks.
The first step? Accepting that changing your life means breaking a sweat and facing what you’d rather avoid.
But the only way out is through.
I take a non-pathologizing, functional approach. Psychiatric diagnoses may serve insurance companies, but they reveal little about the true nature of your struggles. So, instead of figuring out labels, we focus on understanding your experiences and problems, and their connections.
We start with the idea that symptoms aren’t problems to be rid of but are messages from yourself to yourself about yourself.
Pain signals that something—past trauma or present incongruences—needs attention. It invites exploration and urges action.
By tracing your pain to its roots and then addressing the function, we can fundamentally change how you feel.
Change happens in leaps and in small steps. We’re always swinging for the fences, but appreciate the compounding value of base hits to.
If this sounds like what you’ve been looking for, let’s talk.
How I built
Functional Psychotherapy
Psychology doesn't have one unified theory everyone agrees on—it's what philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn would call "pre-paradigmatic," full of competing schools with each explaining part of the picture though none of it explaining it entirely. One answer to that puzzle is psychotherapy integration: blending theories into something new. I practice a specific kind, theoretical integration, folding multiple frameworks into one coherent model I call Functional Psychotherapy.
In your work with me, none of it will be theory for its own sake. The goal is to get at your problems at the root, disrupt the avoidance that keeps them stuck, and resolve them through some combination of top-down and bottom-up work.
In practice, that means I'm not locked into a single lens. If psychodynamic work isn't reaching you today, we shift to somatic, or strategic, or existential, until something does. You get an approach built around what actually moves you, not around my favorite theory.
Here are the key theories and principles that inform my approach (listed alphabetically):
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Attachment theory considers how early bonds and caregiver responsiveness shape us. In therapy, we consider how these experiences color current relational construing and look to repair attachment wounds.
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I use some principles of these approaches, in select instances, for example, considering the role of acceptance and values-based action in building resilience and living meaningfully.
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Constructivism views us as meaning-makers. In therapy, we examine and reconstrue the meanings you have made while fostering flexibility, coherence, and deeper self-understanding.
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Critical theories challenge power dynamics, social constructs, and systemic oppression. In therapy, we consider context, deconstruct biases, and foster awareness to promote justice, inclusivity, and authentic expression.
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Existentialism considers meaning, freedom, and responsibility. In therapy, we cultivate an awareness of the fragility of our existence, thereby enriching our experience by living with immediacy, congruence, and accountability to maximize meaning, every day.
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These emphasize present-awareness, emotional processing, and personal responsibility. In therapy, we focus on integrating conflicting parts, deepening experiencing, and fostering authentic expression to promote bottom-up growth and healing.
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Humanism centers growth, authenticity, and depth in the relationship. In therapy, we consider the healing potential of self-awareness and adaptive change through empathy, experiential processing, and building a coherent sense-of-self.
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This considers how our relationships and roles in them, shape us. In therapy, we explore recurrent relational patterns, self-other dynamics, and the influence of past experiences then identify and shift maladaptive patterns and promoting more fulfilling connections.
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Memory reconsolidation is the brain’s process for updating memories. In therapy, we elicit transformational change by reactivating painful memories and then encountering experiential mismatches to them. In so doing, we aim to dispel symptoms at their core.
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We consider how trauma at critical developmental periods can impact later construing. For example, injuries in early childhood might lead to an egocentric worldview (Piaget) or chronic shame and low self-worth in adulthood (Erikson).
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These emphasize unconscious processes, internal conflicts, and early experiences. Short-term dynamic therapies challenge defenses and use intense emotional engagement to accelerate symptom relief, aiming for rapid transformative change.
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Some of the principles of these theories guide my navigation of the therapy process, particularly as they relate to activating reconsolidation processes.
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Strategic therapy disrupts conscious and unconscious patterns, bypassing resistance with irreverence, paradox, and reframing. Hypnotic principles and inductive techniques can activate innate strengths and unconscious resources to facilitate rapid and lasting change.
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Transpersonal psychology explores consciousness beyond the ego, integrating spirituality and altered states. Psychedelics and simulation theory raise questions about the very nature of reality, perception, and human experiencing.
Change begins with discomfort.
Let’s get uncomfortable.
You already know you want to work with me?
Or, start smaller. Let’s just see how we fit first.
Still deciding or just have a question?