Who I Work With

I work with individual adults and couples. I see people beginning around the age of 20 and older, to those in the last developmental stage of life.

Below are some of the various issues I work with. Your situation is unique to you, though you may see yourself described in the struggles listed below.

After exploring my site, I hope you will feel clearer whether you’d like to take the first step in reaching out to me. We would have an initial phone conversation so we can both learn more about each other and get a sense of whether we can work together.

Developmental Passages & Their Challenges

If we fail to adequately develop and grow through each successive stage in our lives, it will affect us later on.

If this is the case for you, the goal of our work together will be to help you achieve a more age-appropriate engagement and feeling of mastery in your life.

We will come to understand the issues you faced in your early life and how they are affecting you now.

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Issues faced in the 20s, “The emerging adult”

Having inadequate or unhealthy parenting, lacking the guidance needed to take the steps of launching your life. Symptoms from this can look like:

Not being able to grow up:

Feeling lost and not able to build your life, career, and primary relationship.

Difficulty taking your life seriously.

Not knowing how valuable this time of your life is in creating the foundation for the rest of your life.

Isolation or difficulty in creating and maintaining a healthy social life, or poor choice of friends or partners.

Rationalizing living a free-spirited life, when underneath are feelings of inadequacy or lack of internal guidance.

Not feeling equipped to handle the transition into adult roles and responsibilities.

Doing the same things you did in your teens:

Perhaps drinking, drugs, not being settled and responsible.

Preoccupation with superficial life: looks, partying, etc.

Rationalizing that you’ll grow up sometime. Yet that time often comes too late and with regrets. And the outcome of all this is likely depression, anxiety, emptiness, or risky behavior.

And more…

Issues faced at career launch

Taking your skills and interests and developing them into a career that will be meaningful and sustainable and allow you to thrive.

To learn the value of investing in creating this for yourself. Out of it creates a love and respect for yourself and your place in the world.

This optimistic picture is not always the case, leading to:

apathy, cynicism, isolation, discouragement, eroding self-esteem, irritability and inadequacy.

It can cause dependency on others if you’re not self-sustaining.

Lacking the ability to be financially self-sustaining creates fears of meeting life and everything looks scary.

The outcome of these difficulties can be serious depression, anxiety, panic, and physical symptoms.

We often deal with these painful feelings by trying to cover them up by overeating, drinking, shopping, internet addiction, or any number of other ways of distracting and running from the initial problem. These methods to numb ourselves become a secondary problem, which confounds the initial problem and offer you no ultimate relief.

There is hope if you are willing to look at this puzzle of your life with seriousness and the respect it deserves. We can unravel this together and help to get you on a healthy and satisfying course for your life.

And more…

Relationships

It’s wonderful in life to have a good relationship, although sometimes there are significant difficulties. Relationship issues need to be sorted out with the hope of establishing greater compatibility and resonance.

I have a particular interest and experience in working with couples.

Couples therapy can be difficult in its own way for each partner and I am very aware of that. I create a safe container for the work. It is deep and often profound what can come of the work and the value of good couple’s therapy is tremendous. I encourage you to not let things that aren’t working continue to be a part of your relationship. Let’s discuss them and create a healthier relationship. You don’t need to feel afraid of coming in, I am fair to each person, never seeing one person as the problem. I will be direct and hope to help you with tools to bring into your lives together.

Symptoms can be:

Feeling unmet needs creating distancing with your partner.
Anger, resentment.
Difficulty in communication.
Explosive anger.
Traumatic triggers from your past.
Problems in intimacy with your partner.
Financial strains.
And more…

In your family history if you didn’t experience healthy relationships, it’s likely you’ll repeat the painful patterns of your past. It’s difficult to know how deep these patterns are laid. Being able to see them early enough in your life can give you much more control over your choices of who you will share your precious time with.

I work with couples of any gender configuration.

Family life

Ages 40s and 50s

Learning how to sustain your commitment to partner, family, and career in the face of challenges.

Questioning your life choices.

Finding fault and wanting to run from some aspect of your life.

Pervasive instability.

Physical symptoms: insomnia, lack of self-care.

Women’s issues.

Men starting to feel their aging and the concerns this brings on.

Sexual issues for both men and women.

Divorce, infidelity and more...

Mature adult and assessing your life

Aging

Issues at any stage

Depression, anxiety, loneliness, feeling stuck...

Do you know the dark feelings of depression all too well?

Or debilitating and all-consuming anxiety?

Or possibly loneliness that feels unending and the sense of defeat that accompanies it?

You don’t need to suffer alone with these feelings. First we will learn the source of these painful states and bring new meaning to them. I give you a fresh perspective on the deeper feelings that pervade your life and help you make adjustments that can free you. We create space for hidden and unconscious shame. This liberates you to experience more pleasure and vitality and find your source of meaningful engagement.

Maybe, for you, all has gone reasonably well, but a shock has rocked your world, an illness, the death of a loved one or divorce. This is a time to feel supported through the painful and important initiation and transition required.

Being in therapy takes courage and is a way of taking responsibility and ownership of your life. Therapy is learning how to play, to live fully, with joy, creating a foundation of a clear, strong, and purposeful vision that deeply and truly nourishes you.

You Don't Need to Suffer

If you are facing challenges or difficult emotional states, let's explore working together.

What’s it like to work with me?