Everyone experiences distress and confusion and we all can feel lost and overwhelmed at some point in our lives. Many feel this long before they consider entering therapy. It takes courage to reach out to a stranger for support, but research shows that a therapeutic relationship can help you uncover your strengths, learn new tools to cope with the challenges you face and ultimately make positive changes in your life. I help people who feel held back by fear, stress, and old nonproductive habits change how they feel about themselves and their partners. I can help you not only gain awareness and insight, but learn concrete strategies for managing uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, and learning ways to communicate and resolve conflict to enhance your relationships.
I utilize both traditional therapeutic methods as well as evidence-based methods in all of my work. I work from a systems perspective, believing that even in individual therapy we are profoundly effected by the relationships we live in and those that we came from. This allows me to utilize family of origin, or psycho dynamic, insight-oriented therapy as well as cognitive approaches in understanding how our thoughts and previous life experiences can guide our behavior and emotions and how to change them in the present.
My approach with couples utilizes the evidence-based techniques of conflict resolution and the attachment theories of emotionally focused therapy. The goal is to break through destructive patterns of conflict in order to enhance safety, vulnerability and closeness. In addition, I explore the negative patterns between couples, without blame and shame, so people can begin to feel like they MATTER to their partner. My couples work starts from the premise that when we feel significant to our partner our life and our relationship is a source of support and nurturing rather than a source of resentment and fear.