Therapy Services

Couples Therapy

Couples come to see me for help with the following:

To enhance their communication and feel closer
To feel more like life partners than roommates
To heal from a breach of trust, such as an affair
To find ways to stop arguing
To change long-term patterns that feel entrenched
To consider separation

Usually, couples come to therapy asking me to help them change their partner. When waiting for a partner to change, people become frustrated and hopeless. On the other hand, when they make their own changes, they feel more powerful. Furthermore, when partners make their own changes, they end up affecting the relationship in positive ways. We become a team, working together to enhance connection, and ease misunderstandings. Partners develop a stronger, closer relationship. It brings me great satisfaction to see couples on the verge of splitting up become skilled at communicating effectively and enjoy each other’s company again. It is also not surprising, but if raising children together, parents often report that their children become happier and less distressed as the parenting relationship strengthens. The rewards of doing couples work are plentiful.

Individual therapy

Adults and parents of adolescents ask me for help with the following:

Anxiety
Depression
Relationship distress
Major life changes
Body image concerns/eating disorders
Trauma
LGBTQ issues

People usually seek therapy when in pain. My aim is to help ease distress by asking good questions, demonstrating understanding, and sharing useful feedback. I help clarify my client’s values - which can serve as a roadmap out of their difficult situation. Within the context of a non-judgmental, warm relationship, people can learn to better assess thoughts for accuracy and usefulness, build better self-compassion skills, and engage in behavior change. These three aspects of therapy relieve emotional distress, improve relationship satisfaction, and lead to improvement in functioning. I often incorporate ideas from couples therapy when working with individuals. That said, everyone is unique; I tailor my interventions to my clients’ particular situation.

Family therapy

Family Therapy

Parents seek my help for the following:

Reconnection with estranged adult children
Support in healing wounds from the past
Current behavioral concerns of their adolescents
Managing the family changes during separation or divorce

I have worked with a number of adult children and older adults to improve their adult child/parent relationship. For this work, I have incorporated ideas about differentiation from The Couples Institute. It works quite well. It fosters hope and skill building, and increases understanding and connection. With families where the children are still adolescents, I apply a similar map to improve interpersonal functioning while also honoring the power structure of the family.

When I share feedback in a compassionate way, I can help each family member identify their own contribution to the family’s struggles, learn new ways of coping with distress and ask for what they want, become more curious and less defensive, and engage in more loving behaviors. Together, we work to create needed and wanted transformation.

For parents wanting support with young children, I am not the best match.