MY SPECIALTIES
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING
I help people with a number of issues including depression, grief, anxiety, career and workplace issues and provide external resources for help when possible and if needed.
COUPLES AND RELATIONSHIP THERAPY
Couples therapy is my passion. I help couples through the hardest challenges including infidelity, trust issues, poor communication, arguing and dealing with substance abuse and other boundary violations. I help people who are contemplating divorce and offer guidance to those who are considering marriage or other types of relationships.
SEXUAL ISSUES
I work with individuals and couples through sex-related issues. I help people with sexual dysfunction, LGBTQ issues, coming out and getting through sexual trauma. I also help individuals considering consensual nonmonogamy as well as enhancing monogamous relationships. I help people communicate about sex and desire and being open and accepting. I am also quite experienced in helping people with transitioning.
FAMILY THERAPY
DEPRESSION
I like to help people get to the bottom of their depression and introduce steps on how to get out of it. Depression is different than grief or just having a bad day. Sometimes we don't know why we're depressed, but I like to get people to a point where they can chalk it up to something. I do support psychiatric intervention, i.e., medication, and feel it can be helpful in a lot of situations. I like to pinpoint causes and help people feel less overwhelmed.
ADDICTION
I do help people who are in recovery and who might be dealing with relapse. I like to be honest with people about their relationship to alcohol and drugs and operate from a harm-reduction model of treatment. I do support the use of 12-step programs but believe in providing alternatives in order to assure the best possible outcome. I am supportive of medically-assisted addictions treatment for those who are having a challenge staying clean. I like to talk about the positives for staying clean and to discuss at a deeper level one's meaning and purpose in life as ways of staying clean. I do not offer services for people involved in the legal system, for example, people on probation. I am not a court-approved treatment center and do not report to outside agencies, courts or probation.
I provide assistance for families wanting improved functioning. I talk to parents about blended families and the challenges that can present. I offer parenting skills and better ways to elicit cooperation from children. I talk about communicating with teens and younger children and the things that seem to work and don't. I also help with families where there is addiction or abuse and how to get through these challenges.
ANXIETY
Not knowing is the greatest source of anxiety in the human animal. I teach people to embrace and welcome the unknown. I help people with anxiety develop strategies and new outlooks on reducing and managing their anxiety. I do recommend medical intervention when indicated and refer people to health care professionals on a regular basis while continuing my work with them.