I want to help you to get more out of your relationships. By assisting you in recognizing how you got to where you are today I will guide and encourage you in achieving your goals to having healthier relationships.

Areas of Focus:

Couples Therapy

Relationships can be difficult when you weren't taught how to relate to others in a healthy way.  Not only that but when two people coming from different family backgrounds unite it inevitably brings conflict into the relationship. 

I help clients identify problem areas or areas where they are "stuck" and give them practical solutions to move forward in their relationship.

Anxiety / Depression

Everyone has fear or sadness at times. If however they become overwhelming or keep you from missing opportunities or enjoying life it may be time to seek help.

My goal is to help individuals take a look at what may be the underlying cause and learn healthy coping skills to manage them.

Here is a free test for anxiety from Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/health/anxiety-test

Here is a free test for depression from Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/health/depression-test

Grief

When we fail to recognize our grief and dismiss it the grief still remains.  It will continue to affect us for example, through building walls in order to not be hurt again or through sadness and depression. 

As a therapist I walk clients through the grieving process so they may experience the freedom of processed grief.

 Attachment

Attachment can be interrupted by early childhood trauma such as abuse (physical, emotional, verbal, neglect), adoption or extended hospitalization at an early age.  

When this happens as children we learn ways to cope to get our needs met.

As a therapist I help clients with awareness of unhealthy ways of relating to others and explore new and healthier ways to manage relationships.

Addiction

Substance addiction and process addiction are complex conditions that affect the reward, reinforcement, motivation, and memory systems of the brain. They are characterized by impaired control over usage; social impairment, involving the disruption of everyday activities and relationships; and craving. (Psychology Today)

Addiction affects the whole family system and must make changes as well. Addiction is a family disease because families function as a system much like the engine of a car.

If one component of the engine over functions or under functions it impacts the whole engine. The engine can completely shut down or can run too fast and overheat.

Similarly when one family member struggles with addiction (or enters a program and experiences recovery) it impacts the whole family system. When a family’s homeostasis is disrupted or changed, albeit for the better, unless each family member positively adjusts to the change the addict will slip back into active use.

I work with individuals as they step down from a higher level of treatment to support their continued recovery. I also work with the family members to make the changes necessary to sustain recovery.

Trauma Therapy: EMDR and Brainspotting

Big T trauma refers to a deeply disturbing, life-threatening event or situation. This includes catastrophic events such as war, natural disasters, violent crimes, a school shooting, a serious car accident or the death of a parent.

Little T or Complex trauma describes both children’s exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is used to help clients process painful memories and experiences so that they are not continually triggered in the present.

Clients suffering from PTSD, unresolved trauma, depression and anxiety find healing from this therapy. "This treatment approach, which targets past experience, current triggers, and future potential challenges, results in the alleviation of presenting symptoms, a decrease or elimination of distress from the disturbing memory, improved view of the self, relief from bodily disturbance, and resolution of present and future anticipated triggers"(EMDRIA).

Brainspotting (BSP) is an exciting brain/body-based therapy approach, developed by David Grand, Ph.D. in 2003.

The therapist’s deep relational attunement and the neurobiological attunement is at the core of BSP.

Trauma overwhelms one’s nervous system and BSP works on easing this emotional and physical lock down by locating, accessing, processing and releasing neurophysiological sources of pain/trauma held deep in the subcortical brain.

Parenting

It is said that parenting is the hardest job you will ever have.  The challenges of parenting only intensify when you add your job, kid’s activities and electronics.

Often when children act out it can feel kike pure defiance. However, I believe these behavioral outbursts serve a purpose.

My goal is to help parents analyze what is bringing about the behavior in to meet the child’s need in a healthy way.

Co-Dependency 

What is co-dependency?  It has been described as, "When I lose myself and take on the emotions, thoughts or wants of another as my own." 

In childhood, children often take on the wants, thoughts or needs of their parents to bring peace to the home or to get their basic needs met.  

These are coping skills developed at an early age in order to cope with the unhealthy family system.  These coping skills served a purpose for a time but as an adult can be harmful and keep emotional intimacy and vulnerability out of relationships.

My objective is to help clients develop awareness of dysfunctional ways they relate to others and to learn healthier means of communicating and being in any relationship. 

Parenting in Adoption

 Adoption brings it own set of rules to parenting.  Kids who are adopted have experienced the trauma of a break in attachment at an early age and therefore often need extra help in forming a secure attachment or bond.  

Few parents are prepared for the challenges of adopting children with attachment struggles.  Nor are they prepared to work through the problems this brings to the marriage relationship.

My goal in working with adoptive families is to provide resources and practical tools that educate parents, while building healthy connections with their children.