Over the years, Alex has done clinical research into adult development, family systems,
and social psychology. Her therapeutic approach, although heavily influenced by family systems
theory, is not an excavation into the past in an attempt to understand current forces in client’s lives.
“I see almost all patterns and symptoms systemically and socially,” she says. “I attempt to
understand what the client defines as ‘problematic’ in relationship to the people, the roles,
and the social forces operating in their lives. However, the responsibility to change one’s experience
in life always rests within the individual.” She adds, “A key organizing principle of what I
do is based on this assumption: To reconnect with or find joy requires getting in touch with the core of Self and
finding the courage and ability to Self express through structures clients have to take full responsibility
for creating. The ultimate experience of this freedom requires the ability to freely and deliberately
create new structures, let go of the outdated and inauthentic ones, as well as the ability to maintain the
essential ones through adaptation.” But her biggest gift is translating these complex psychotherapeutic
issues into easily understandable and compelling language to those who come to see her.
Aside from family systems theory, Dr. Burmeister also relies on contributions from the fields of narrative
psychology (attending to the stories that form one’s identity and influences symptoms),
cognitive-behavioral theory (shifting personal experience via attention to
belief systems and behavioral patterns), and existential theory (humanizing and managing the anxieties inherent
in the life experience and the creation of meaning). Dr. Burmeister has also studied and trained in
East/Asian systems of mind/body healing and stress management.