be heard - be understood - grow
Services
I N D I V I D U A L S
It takes courage and commitment to look at oneself and individual therapy can help people who are sincerely seeking a more fulfilling life. Through the therapeutic relationship, individuals will gain insight into why they think, feel, and behave in the ways that they do and this insight can lead to change. One major focus of individual treatment is to help clients identify and develop the parts of themselves that are holding them back. My goal with therapy is not to solve problems for clients, but rather to help clients discover their inner resources so that they can better help themselves. Therapy is an opportunity for you to learn about yourself so that you can manage your life more effectively and discover new possibilities for growth and development.
C O U P L E S
People generally want to be in a relationship that feels meaningful and authentic. My main purpose during couples therapy is to put you and your significant other in a room while I neutrally mediate conversation to help you make sense of what's going on.
When both partners are committed to working on their relationship, the therapy can help each of them better understand themselves and their partner. While there are many possible positive outcomes from couples counseling, some benefits are that you and your partner will begin to understand one another, recognize and modify dysfunctional patterns in the relationship, and decrease emotional avoidance. Couples therapy can help couples improve their relationship, strengthen their connection, and increase intimacy and closeness. With the guidance of a therapist, and in a safe environment, couples can learn the skills needed to improve their communication, resolve conflict, and clarify each person’s needs and how these needs can be met.
C H I L D R E N
Child therapy is very forward-oriented. Children are always in the process of becoming who they will be, so looking back on past life events for information, as in adult therapy, may be somewhat irrelevant. My training in child therapy has led me to place a lot of caring focus on helping children develop a strong sense of self, emotional strength, good relationships and good communication.
This is a busy world, and sometimes children lose track of themselves and need the experience of true "awareness of self" in an environment that is free of criticism and expectation. I work honestly with children to build a trusting relationship in a safe and therapeutic space so the exploration of the true self can begin. As a child psychotherapist, I am there to guide children through the confusing territory of emotion and development. The language of child therapy is largely non-verbal, so during therapy I use activity, unstructured play, games and relationship to communicate with children. My ultimate goal in child therapy is to help build self esteem, stimulate development, help improve communication, improve emotional vocabulary and build emotion repertoire.
A D O L E S C E N T S
Adolescence can be a particularly challenging time, during which young people move from childhood to adulthood. The transition brings physical, social, and emotional changes, and even when life is relatively stress free, it can be a challenging experience. In addition, the adolescent brain is still developing. Therefore, teens don’t have the emotional or cognitive ability to easily identify and verbalize what is going on inside of them, often leading them to act out their feelings instead. When adolescents experience trauma or increased stress such as parental or family discord, bullying or social difficulties, peer pressure, a death or illness in the family, or other major life stressors, they may show their feelings of fear, sadness, and anger by changing their behavior, usually negatively.
Therapy can be an opportunity for adolescents to process their thoughts and feelings in a safe place so that they can learn more effective ways of interacting with their environment and develop a good set of coping skills. It’s also an opportunity for them to explore and bring together their ideas about their own identity, as this is an important task at this stage of their development.
F A M I L I E S
Family therapy brings parents, siblings and extended family members such as aunts, uncles and grandparents into the treatment process. The family system has its own structure and patterns of communication, which may be defined by parenting style, personalities and other influences.
Every individual is, in part, a product of the environment they grew up in. Family plays an important role in our emotional, physical and spiritual development since each individual in the family system impacts and is impacted by the others. For example, one person’s illness can change the lives and interactions of all the other family members. Family therapy may be helpful to resolve a specific issue, prepare the family for major life changes (such as imminent death, divorce or remarriage), or to address the role that the family plays in an individual’s life. Anyone seeking healthier, closer family relationships can benefit from family therapy.
