My Approach to Helping
Psychotherapy and couples & marriage counseling are powerful tools to improve relationships. This may include relationships with your partner, family members, or other significant people. It also includes your relationship with yourself. My more than 25 years' experience as a psychotherapist and marriage counselor in Marin has shown that when people begin to improve how they treat and view themselves, even in small ways, the benefits are enormous. Together, we can do that.
I work in a supportive manner and tailor individual psychotherapy and marriage and couples counseling to your unique needs, background, and preferences. I offer a variety of approaches to help you let go of emotional suffering, create healthier communication and more intimacy in your marriage, family, and other relationships, and overcome what may be holding you back.
I have openings for new clients for both individual therapy and marriage and couples counseling. I invite you to contact me to discuss how I can help you find greater contentment and well-being.
Please note: All therapy sessions are by video.
Areas of special expertise include helping clients:
1) Cope with feeling overwhelmed or alone
2) Deepen intimacy and create more nurturing relationships
3) Heal from the legacy of a narcissistic family upbringing
4) Overcome self-defeating or self-destructive patterns
5) Overcome setbacks in relationships, career, finances, health, or emotional life
6) Cope with difficult people
7) Enhance creativity and well-being
More Info About My Practice
AUTHOR:
"If You Had Controlling Parents: How to Make Peace With Your Past and Take Your Place in the World" HarperCollins Publishers (1998)
"Secrets You Keep From Yourself: How to Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness" St. Martin's Press (2004)
CREDENTIALS:
Clinical Fellow, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Clinical Member, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
Clinical Member and Past Chapter President, Marin County Chapter, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
Lifetime Member, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy
Clinical Member, San Francisco Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy
LICENSES:
Licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in California, Florida, Texas, and Virginia.
(CA Lic# LMFT29178; FL Lic# MT3036; TX Lic# 202726; VA Lic# 0717001377)
FEES AND INSURANCE:
If you have insurance that covers counseling, I will provide statements for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement at out-of-network rates.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
Do you feel deprived, on eggshells, or frustrated in your relationship? Marriage and Couples counseling can help you increase communication, reduce conflict, foster mutual respect, and enhance intimacy and companionship.
Every relationship has bumps in the road but what makes the difference is to feel that you and your partner have the ability to navigate setbacks, discuss difficult topics, and maintain open lines of communication. For many of us, these skills are not always learned as we grow up.
Couples counseling is a place for you to have constructive dialogues about topics that may be difficult for you to discuss on your own. My role as your marriage and couples counselor is to make it safe for you and your partner to constructively address what isn't working and to talk about what you'd like to be better. Couples counseling helps you establish a track record of overcoming challenges so that you can do this on your own, without a therapist's help. Once you and your partner feel that you have the ability to talk constructively no matter what issue comes up, you can handle pretty much anything in your relationship.
Marriage and couples therapy can help if you are experiencing one or more of the following challenges:
+ Difficulty discussing or resolving differences
+ Communication that has become stilted or counterproductive
+ Sensing that your relationship is drifting or that you and your partner are living separate lives
+ Lack of intimacy, affection, or quality time
+ Feeling that your relationship is not living up to its promise
+ Unresovled disagreements about finances, parenting, sex, friendships, or joint activities
+ Crises such as infidelity, health issues, or one partner questioning the relationship
+ A cycle of blame or disrespect
+ Worries that one or both of you has given up on the relationship
+ Excessive conflict
+ Feeling that your partner withdraws when you seek closeness
+ Feeling that one or both of you is holding on to past upsets and can't let go
+ Controlling, addictive, or destructive behavior in your relationship
Couples counseling offers a safe place to speak and be heard in what may be your most important relationship. Couples and marriage counseling is designed to help you solve impasses, listen and communicate more clearly, and understand yourself, your partner, and your relationship more deeply.
My job is to help you achieve these by serving as a resource, coach, ally, cheerleader, advisor, and sometimes even a referee. I tailor marriage and couples counseling to your individual needs drawing from a combination of empirically validated couples therapy approaches including Emotionally Focused Therapy, adult attachment therapy, Gottman?s approach, Imago therapy, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. I work with all manner of relationship issues including recovery from affairs, blended families, parenting challenges, lack of intimacy, controlling behavior, post-traumatic stress disorder, and pre-martial counseling.
Among the possible benefits of marriage and couples counseling:
+ A deeper and more intimate connection
+ A greater sense of partnership, affection, and companionship
+ The feeling of being in a healthy partnership rather than feeling alone
+ Ability to state your needs and feelings clearly and constructively so you can avoid or resolve conflicts
+ Greater willingness to compromise and solve problems
+ Less blame and more companionship
+ Tools and techniques to foster constructive communication and closeness
I am happy to answer your questions about how marriage and couples counseling can help you achieve your goals. Email or call me for a free phone consultation to discuss how I can be helpful to you.
How Psychotherapy Can Help
Therapy is designed to help you stop suffering, overcome challenges, and increase your contentment.
Psychotherapy can be helpful if you are experiencing one or more of the following challenges:
+ Troubling or unwanted feelings that won?t go away
+ A lack of confidence or assertiveness
+ A pattern of choosing unhealthy relationships
+ A tendency to avoid rather than face problems
+ A desire for greater optimism or better self-esteem
+ Feeling that something is missing in your life
+ Daunting choices during a life transition
+ Feelings such as fear, anger, resentment, loneliness, or sadness that get in the way of your job, relationships, or health
+ A lack of balance in your life
+ Feeling unsafe, insecure, panicky, or overwhelmed
+ Excessive sensitivity to criticism or rejection
+ Addictive behaviors
+ Painful memories that won?t let go
+ Difficulty concentrating
+ Excessive worry
+ Poor self-image
+ Difficulty feeling spontaneous
+ Depression or emotional numbness
+ Difficulty trusting or getting close to others
+ Drained vitality and energy
+ Codependency
+ Loss, grief, or bereavement
+ Moodiness or mood swings
+ Excessive shame or self-criticism
The goal of therapy is to help you have better relationships, including your relationship with yourself. Therapy is a forum for you to be seen and heard without judgment. My job as your therapist is to help you become more clear about what is best for you and to work with you to solve challenges so you can find greater contentment and self-acceptance.
Therapy can help you make difficult choices during transitions, reduce your stress, increase your self confidence, heal old wounds, or tackle challenges you haven?t been able to overcome. It is a place for you to talk candidly and get feedback, suggestions, and validation from an ally trained to help you.
Among the possible benefits of psychotherapy:
+ Greater comfort with yourself
+ Greater ease with difficult emotions
+ Greater self-confidence and self-acceptance
+ Greater assertiveness
+ Tools for dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, and loneliness
+ Clarity on what you want and how to get it
+ Help in changing negative patterns
+ Stress management
+ Anger management
+ Ability to heal old wounds
+ New perspectives on old problems
+ Tools for dealing with difficult, narcissistic, overly-dramatic, or overly-entitled people in your life
+ Clarity in coping with change or life transitions
+ Increased self-love and self-care
I am happy to speak with you and answer your questions about how therapy can achieve your goals. Email or call me for a free phone consultation and we can discuss how I can help you.
