My Approach to Helping
I find great meaning in helping people connect with the things that matter most to them and live fuller and more satisfying lives, and have a great appreciation for the courage it takes to reach out for help when things aren’t working. I provide an accepting and compassionate environment with respect and admiration for individual differences and unique personal histories and utilize research-based methods to provide treatments that are known to be effective.
My approach to counseling is collaborative in nature and is rooted in the newer cognitive-behavioral therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which emphasizes reducing the struggle against unwanted or painful thoughts and experiences and living a values-directed life. I enjoy helping people find a sense of meaning in their lives. A wise person once said "If you want to know where your heart is, look to where your mind goes when it wanders." I want to accompany you on that journey of discovery and growth.
I find it very fulfilling to work with couples and am a Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist. A lovely Irish proverb says: "It is in the shelter of each other that people live." We are hard-wired to love and be loved, to connect and be connected. Emotionally Focused Therapy gives us an empirically tested road map to bring couples to a place of healthy interconnection and interdependence. I will help you stop the dance of blame, distancing and mutual hurt. We will focus on the negative cycle that has become your mutual enemy and learn to change the music to a new dance of closeness and connection.
More Info About My Practice
I have traveled the long and winding road of marriage for 40 years and fully understand the pitfalls and detours of committed relationships. As an ICEEFT Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist, I am dedicated to helping couples find their way back home. I will help you stop the dance of blame, distancing, and mutual hurt. We will focus on the negative cycle that has become your mutual enemy and learn to change the music to a new dance of closeness and connection.
How Psychotherapy Can Help
Talk therapy is more than just talking about your problems, it is about working toward solutions. You will be encouraged to look at things in a different way and learn new ways to respond to the events and people that trigger emotional distress.
An empathic therapist can help you understand yourself better, help you cope with uncomfortable feelings and symptoms, and help you change old behavior patterns that may contribute to the stress and struggles in your life.
Through therapy, you will learn to change old maladaptive ways of thinking, feeling and doing that contribute to your unhappiness, so that you are able to reach your goals and live a happier, healthier, and more productive life.
My Therapy Focus
The major theoretical influences that guide my work are based on Attachment Theory (which states that we are hard-wired to connect and be connected, to love and be loved, it's in our DNA), and on Mindfulness Meditation practices. The attachment-based therapies I utilize are Emotionally Focused Therapy and Schema Therapy. The Mindfulness-based therapies I utilize are Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCBT), Through integrating these evidence-based therapies, we will be able to focus on what is happening in the present, while simultaneously looking back to your past to find and heal old patterns, beliefs, and obstacles that keep you stuck and frustrated.
I am an Emotionally Focused Couples therapist and in my couples counseling, I can help you find the dysfunctional dance patterns that keep you stuck in reactive cycles. Once you learn to recognize and step over those dysfunctional patterns, you can learn to dance in harmony and connection.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.