ASSESSMENT & TREATMENT

The first 2 or 3 sessions are spent just getting to know each other. Together, we will complete a biopsychosocial assessment. I am going to ask a lot of questions about your physical, emotional, and mental health and the health of your family relationships. We will explore your history, unpack your current problems and concerns, and I will attempt to earn your respect and trust. The more I understand you and your issues, the better I can create a treatment to help you.

By session 3 or 4, I will give you my feedback, tell you how I think I can help, and we will contract to work on specific goals together. Then, we get to work on making progress to relieve your symptoms, untangle your struggles, and help you to grow toward your potential. Progress is dependent on the ultimate goals, severity of past wounds, transparency of clients, motivation of all clients involved, time and availability for sessions, and dedication and consistency of clients’ efforts to change outside the therapy room.

Therapy is an ongoing process that involves continuous evaluation and accommodation to meet your needs and goals. Please feel free to ask questions, give me feedback, and renegotiate your plan as we progress. If you just do not feel that I am the kind of therapist you are seeking or that my treatment is not helpful, I am more than willing to provide you with referrals and help you seek a better fit. As well, if I do not feel capable or able to help you for any reason, I will be honest with you and point you toward others who could better meet your needs.

COUPLES THERAPY

If you are specifically coming for couples/marital therapy, the first session is focused on gathering information from BOTH PARTNERS as a couple. The next two sessions, I will see each partner individually, to get to know you more personally and review your individual histories. In the fourth session, we will review your individual and couples assessments, I will share my feedback, and we will set goals for moving forward. We will still work with all of your individual “parts,” but we will do so with a more detailed focus on how each of your systems works within the relationship and how you can better connect with one another.

The marital therapy I provide relies heavily on the work of two giants in my field-- John Gottman and Susan Johnson. Both of these clinicians have long-standing, researched approaches to what actually helps couples for the long-term. Therefore I use their models because they are more than theoretical; there is actual evidence that they actually help couples. My ultimate goal is to help couples create a more secure attachment to each other, increase their emotional safety and intimacy, and build a foundation for a lastly union. I do this by helping the couple to build their friendship, establish emotional trust and connection with each other, use effective communication and problem-solving strategies, and support each other’s dreams and life goals. If you are coming for a more specific issue, such an healing from broken trust or infidelity, or a life cycle transition, the therapy plan and interventions will be geared more specifically around those needs.

Once assessment is complete, the treatment goals will guide who comes to session. It is not uncommon in marital therapy that some sessions are dedicated to individual work that will enhance the marriage and some are more specifically oriented to the couples’ interactions. Most sessions will end with homework of some kind to work on integrating what was learned in the therapy room into daily life and relationships.

FAMILY THERAPY

If you are specifically coming to therapy to resolve a relationship issue within the family, the first session is typically a consultation, whereby I meet with all involved parties to better define the issues and potential for treatment. Once we establish who will be involved in the family therapy and what the goal is, the following few sessions will consist of biopsychosocial assessments for all involved family members. This may take place with specific groups of family members (such as parents or children) or may be done with particular individuals.

When a family comes to treatment, I am not treating one individual with a problem and their family. Rather, I am treating the whole family who is struggling around a specific issue. . . in other words, the problem is not a person, the problem is the problem. Much of our work together will focus on improving communication and conflict resolution skills, building emotional connectedness, setting appropriate boundaries, establishing secure and trustworthy relationships, and/or understanding and supporting each family member’s individual needs and growth.