COUPLES COUNSELING is similar to dance class. When breakdown occurs, both parties must learn “new moves” to feel understood, heal and create a stronger connection. Immediate crisis management, changing reactive patterns between you that sabotage communication and desire, and creating safety for deeply intimate conversation can happen. I bring compassion, experience, and playfulness to this vulnerable work.

The experience of LOSS, whether from the death of a beloved person, relationship, your youth, or from early childhood trauma is deep and impacts daily living. I work with older children through elders, recognizing how at each stage we uniquely embody our grief and anxiety. We’ll work to discover a ‘new normal’ and strengths perhaps previously unknown. Mindfulness, creative expression, trauma-informed practices and self-nourishment bring a new level of calm and ability to make choices.

DIVORCE is a painful and sometimes inescapable path, impacting every member of the family. Children need a safe place to understand their feelings, future, and how to navigate changing homes and relationships. Adults need personal support, resources, and clear information to keep the children from being further wounded by conflict, creating families post-divorce that honor children’s deepest needs. Co-parenting counseling mediates issues to avoid escalation and legal costs of ongoing litigation.

STEPFAMILIES make up one third of all families in the United States. Armed with personal experience and creativity, I assist parents and kids in stepfamilies to have greater empathy for each other, identify realistic expectations, and create hopeful patterns to blend the family. Parenting strategies and exploring new family rituals may be part of our work together.

ADOLESCENTS can be confused and confusing, which may manifest in mood swings, acting out and self-destructive behaviors. They need to question and identify who they are and want to become. Parents may be overwhelmed, angry, and uncertain about what to do. I’ve had 30 years of experience working with teenagers and families in residential and outpatient settings and assessing high-risk students for school-based intervention team. Together we will work to move through breakdown to safety, greater cooperation, better understanding and wiser choices.