About Dr Bob

During Corona Virus/Covid 19 time, I continue seeing new clients, my 3 weekly therapy groups, individual and couple clients thru tele-therapy. Good research shows reliably that tele-therapy has equally good or better outcomes as in-person – still, I’ll be very glad when I can return to in-person sessions.  I prefer interacting with folks in person rather than video or phone  because: it’s more familiar, I can see much more and much more nuanced behavior and body language, and notice the complex, coordinated verbal and and body expressions which convey about 80% of of a communication’s meaning – the actual words carry only about 20% of the meaning.  And uncertainties, confusions and subtleties are usually easily and quickly clarified.

Dr. Bob Dick’s special strength in individual, couple and group psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and EMD-R is developing rapid, warm rapport through direct conversation and honest feedback. This usually leads to progressive, relatively quick relief, problem solving and personal change. Clients often feel much better and behave more skillfully without necessarily knowing quite why. His approach is eclectic, using a wide variety of strategies and tactics, especially Interpersonal, informal Cognitive Behavioral, Gestalt and hypnotic.

Fees  Over the last 20 years Dr Bob has gotten off all insurance panels, and he provides documentation for you to file if your policy has Outside-Of-Network benefits. He accepts Outside of Network, Health Savings Account, and FlexSpending benefits. Please check to be sure of your policy’s OON benefits and what the Deductible is. He accepts only checks, cash, or Venmo – no credit or debit cards. Individual psychotherapy sessions are 45 minutes, and first-session fee is nearly always $125, paid when you see him.  A fee for subsequent sessions is agreed upon during the second session, usually between $125 and $135, which is about half of what he charged in his previous, corporate psychology setting. Group Therapy is charged in advance by the month, usually between $65 and $75. a week.

His Sliding Fee Scale  for psychotherapy goes both up and down. After our initial session, we negotiate a fee that will work for both of us. If the client has one or more well established streams of professional-level income &/or other significant funds, investments, realty, we’ll negotiate and agree on a fee somewhat more than $125.    and Full Day Workshop fee of $140. has similar sliding scales.  If the client is the proverbial “starving grad student” with 3 kids, and if Dr Bob is the “Right” therapist for the job, the fee can be very small, perhaps $50. for individual or group therapy.

Dr Bob sees adults individually, couples, and three weekly Therapy Groups [Chapel Hill Mondays 5:30-7PM, and Raleigh Tuesdays 4:30-6PM, and Thursdays 5:00-6:30PM].  He is especially familiar and helpful with:

Depressions: including dis-spiritedness, complex grief, Bipolar Disorder and low self-esteem

Anxieties : worries, any kind of phobia. difficulty swallowing, panic attacks, PTSD and survivors of childhood abuse

Adult ADD/ADHD “Attention Difference Difficulty”[aka Attention Deficit Disorder/ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder]; noticing and diagnosing previously un-diagnosed Adult ADHD, & managing the associated cognitive, emotional and relationship problems

Mind/Body issues, such as: rewiring the brain/neuroplasticity, any kind of pain, warts, chronic or complex illness and the accompanying demoralization (for example: heart, lung, blood pressure, headaches, Parkinson’s, MS, cancers, diabetes, sleep problems [including apnea], allergies/asthma, chronic fatigue, Tourette’s, rehabilitation, and preparation for childbirth and surgery

 Men’s issues, and [believe it or not], Women’s Issues

Self-regulation, anger management, stress, for example: smoking cessation, weight management, study skills, temper outbursts, nail-biting, breathing …

Spiritual/religious issues like deepening either your prayer life or meditation practice

Communication : problem solving, interpersonal relationships / emotional intimacy skills / couples’ skills

Un-blocking and enhancing artistic production / creative performance.

Training – Dr. Dick has been in practice and has trained other therapists for over five decades. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1971, interned at a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital & Child Guidance Clinic. and continued extensive advanced study with Milton Erickson, MD, and other leading therapists. He was a partner in HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA. (the oldest and largest private practice group of psychologists in the state), and is a recognized trainer of professionals in  psychotherapy, hypnosis and group psychotherapy. In 1982 he visited China to learn Eastern approaches and teach mental health practices, particularly group therapy and hypnosis. In addition to the usual professional organizations, he’s been a member of the American Academy of Psychotherapists, American Group Psychotherapy Association, and a Founding Member of the National Register of Certified Group Psychotherapists/CGP (all now inactive).

He was an Approved Consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, has taught at many local and regional ASCH workshops, and is a two term past president of the NC Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Bob has two grown sons and lives in the country with his wife, writer Peggy Payne, who coaches, consults with, and teaches other writers. She has been a Visiting Scholar at Duke University and her novel Sister India is a N.Y. Times Notable Book of the Year www.peggypayne.com .  For fun, Dr. Bob drives an old car, applies Aikido to everyday life and therapy, enjoys friends and dogs, and reads a lot. He has been a guest several times and was a long-time underwriter of the wonderful, nationally syndicated public health radio program “The Peoples Pharmacy”, with Joe and Terry Graedon: WUNC 91.5 FM.  Saturdays at 7:00 AM, re-broadcast Sundays at 3PM.