Individual and Couples Therapy

Individual Therapy

I recognize that taking steps to look into individual therapy may mean you’re not in a great place. That is why I hope to provide a safe space for you to process what is feeling most potent and relevant to you.  A safe space means that you feel heard and not judged.  I do not want to be the judge, rather I want to be a process consultant for you. Let’s be curious about your emotional responses, patterns, and behaviors and see where you might be getting stuck.

I have worked with individuals experiencing:

• symptoms from depression, anxiety/panic, bipolar disorder
• relational distress from partners, siblings, parents, friends
• internal conflict and indecision
• chronic medical concerns
• stress from parenting
• the impact of addiction for self or loved one
• the impact of past trauma and PTSD
• grief and loss
• identity exploration- gender, sexuality, religion, race and cultural
• divorce recovery
• affair recovery
• disconnection and lonliness

Feel compelled to do something kind for yourself right now? I highly recommend this article from The Atlantic.  It’s an interview with Kristin Neff, a psychology professor that researches self-compassion.

She says, “Self-compassion also entails a mindfulness. In order to have self-compassion, we have to be willing to turn toward and acknowledge our suffering. Typically, we don’t want to do that. We want to avoid it, we don’t want to think about it, and want to go straight into problem-solving.

Couples Therapy

When you’re disconnected from your partner, interactions can feel painful, like a minefield, or even lonely. We can get caught in patterns of negative interactions that can be difficult to shift. I’m here to help with that process, to help you both find an exit from those negative cycles, and to build more secure bonds.

Partners will say to me:

No matter how much I try, I can never meet her expectations.

He shuts down in moments I need him the most.

I don’t want to talk because it seems like every time we do, it ends in conflict.

I’m so tired of feeling like the nag in this relationship.

When s/he doesn’t fight back, it just shows how little s/he cares.

I have worked with couples experiencing:

• stressors from life transitions such as having a baby, moving, career impacts
• betrayals such as infidelity and perceived abandonment in key moments
• fertility challenges
• lack of sexual connection
• chronic conflict
• depression/anxiety
• grief and loss
• unresolved past hurts

I have worked with couples wanting to restore connection, on the brink of separation, unsure of separating or staying together, and those wanting to do pre-marital work.

Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) is an empirically validated treatment model, created by Dr. Sue Johnson over 25 years ago.  The research outcomes show it’s effectiveness in working with couples.  The model incorporates the neuroscience of attachment and love. And I love working at the intersection of the science of love and emotions and how that plays out in relationships.

Watch this video where Dr. Sue Johnson discusses the MRI study showing how EFT creates secure bonds and soothes the brain.