In all relationships partners get stuck in patterns of reactivity, and we can become so stuck that nobody really knows when or why it started, we just know that it is happening.
In couples counseling, my aim is to slow down our patterns enough to stop behaving reactively and begin behaving intentionally. This process teaches us how to recognize the cycle before we get caught up in it, giving us a choice to create new fulfilling patterns.
If you're facing challenges related to intimacy, trust, connection, or other issues, Gottman method therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy are proven to be effective approaches to create a deeper bond and achieve greater satisfaction in your relationship. Together we'll learn how to communicate most effectively with your partner and build the kind of connection you want in your relationship.
In individual counseling, you can expect an environment where we explore your thoughts and feelings, gain insights into your behavior patterns, and develop strategies for valued change. We will create specific goals tailored to help you overcome your individually identified challenges.
Therapy can be a huge step in committing to improving your life, and I would be honored to take these next steps with you. You are the expert in your experience, and my job is not to change or "fix" you. Instead, I want to work with you to maximize your potential and help you live a life that is more fulfilling.
I believe that living a fulfilling life as an individual or a couple comes from acting in service of our personal values on a day-to-day basis. When we act in opposition to those values it is usually in the service of avoiding difficulty, and often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, causing additional difficulty without getting us closer to a more fulfilling life. We cannot eliminate difficult thoughts and feelings altogether, but we can change our relationship to them, and focus on responding to them in a way that creates a more fulfilling life rather than a more limited one.
Through counseling targeted at cultivating mindful awareness of the present moment and committing to action in the service of our values, we can radically change our life experience.
I take a somewhat directive approach to counseling while still remaining humanistic and client-centered when working with both couples and individuals. This means that I work collaboratively with clients to identify their goals and develop a personalized plan for treatment (rather than prescribing goals for them), as well as assign exercises and tools for the client to use at home in service of those goals. In short, my approach combines at-home practice of techniques with in-session emotional and cognitive processing.