INDIVIDUALS

Most people benefit from a neutral, outside perspective in their lives. I enjoy working collaboratively with individual clients toward the goals they come to therapy to pursue. Topics commonly addressed in individual therapy include interpersonal issues, anxiety, depression, unresolved grief or trauma, stress, addictions, family of origin issues, and life transitions. Ideally, I want you to have two things to take with you when you leave my office—something to think about and a skill to try. I will encourage you to think in new ways and to actively participate in your therapy.

COUPLES

 

COUPLE THERAPY

Relationships are challenging. Most of us enter into our partnerships assuming we will always have a magical closeness with our chosen partner. Then life happens and we grow in different ways. Even the best and most committed relationships have rough patches. The “client” in couples therapy is the relationship rather than the two individuals. I enter into the arena to provide support, insight, and a different perspective—not to take sides or to judge—but to help you find strengths and skills to make your relationship stronger.

I work regularly with couples who have experienced the devastation of either an emotional or a physical affair. Affairs are a trauma to a relationship. Many couples report that with patience, commitment, and support, they are able to restore trust and go on to repair their relationship to a point where it is stronger and more fulfilling than it ever had been before the affair.

I have specialized training as a PACT Level II Therapist, a Gottman Level I Couples Therapist, and a Relational Life Therapist. The three of these modalities work well together and each provides sets of tools designed to support you as you work on building, or re-building, a healthy couple relationship.

PREMARITAL COUNSELING/COUPLE ENRICHMENT

This 10-week program takes a look at your new relationship, your philosophy of marriage, decision-making, conflict resolution, finances, balancing work and family, and the importance of rituals in relationships. We will discuss family-of-origin dynamics, how to blend your two families, and your thoughts as to the possibility of adding children and concerns you may have related to parenting.

DISCERNMENT COUNSELING

An estimated 30 percent of couples coming to therapy are mixed-agenda couples where one is leaning out of the relationship and is reluctant to work on it, and the other wants to save the relationship. Research has shown that at the time of divorce filing, most couples are split on wanting the divorce. Discernment Counseling was developed at the University of Minnesota as a way to help couples gain greater clarity and confidence in their decision making about divorcing and to better equip them to understand their prospects for reconciliation. The focus is not on solving marital problems but on seeing if they could potentially be solved. As a Discernment Counselor, my goal is to help individuals and couples decide whether to try to restore their marriage to health, move towards divorce, or take a time out and decide later.

WALKING THROUGH DIVORCE

The reality is, even the best divorce is difficult. These two-hour sessions are designed to help couples find kindness in the midst of a painful process. The healthier the divorce, the healthier and happier each individual is after the divorce is final. If children are involved, we will address strategies for successful co-parenting. If you are involved in divorce or custody litigation, my role as your therapist is not to make recommendations to the court concerning custody or parenting issues. All of my clients are asked to sign a statement at the outset of therapy, agreeing not to subpoena me to court for testimony or for the disclosure of treatment information in their litigation. You also agree not to request that I write any reports to the court or to your attorney or to make any recommendations to the court concerning parental responsibilities or parenting time. The court appoints professionals, who have no prior relationship with family members, to conduct investigations or evaluations and to make recommendations to the court concerning parental responsibilities or parenting time in the best interest of the family’s children.

FAMILIES

I use a family systems approach to therapy; be it work with an individual, a couple, or an entire family. The more family members we can invite to join us, the better (and this can be multiple generations of your family if they live close by or can arrange to travel here for a session or two)! I believe all relationships are interconnected, and when we can identify patterns of interaction within families, we are in a better position to implement changes that will improve communication and foster better relationships with one another. We will work collaboratively to set goals and work toward solutions to help improve the dynamics within your family. Topics commonly addressed in family therapy include blended family issues, separation or divorce, conflict resolution, sibling conflict, unresolved grief and loss or trauma, life transitions, parenting issues, and educational problems.