Keith Interviews Peter, Gym rat/Psychologist

Q: Peter, first off I want to thank you for taking the time to sit down with me as we discuss the relationship between exercise and a person’s mental state.  But before we get into that, talk a little bit about what you do and the path that brought you to this point in your life?
A: Sure thing Keith, thanks for having me.  I’ve been in the field 40 years and during that time I got a LCSW, which is a master’s level degree and kind of the fast track to psychological practicing.   I can pretty much do the same thing as a PhD but had to go through a lot less heartache. 
Starting at a young age, I knew I had a natural ability in talk therapy, so when the time for schooling came it wasn’t about the credential, I just wanted to get the green card so to speak so that I could start practicing.  There are about 300-400 talk therapies and the license gives me permission to work with any of those recognized, but I am kind of more self-taught.  I’ve received an awful lot of training and have done a lot of reading but some of my biggest lessons have been from my clients.  I started out with EMDR (Eye movement desensitization reprogramming) developed by Francine Shapiro, and the therapy mimics rapid eye movement sleep in a wakeful state.  Currently, I primarily specialize as an attachment trauma therapist.

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