Relational Counseling

As social beings who are wired for connection, being disconnected from our partners not only shakes the sense of our own identities, but it may leave us feeling painfully alone and perhaps emotionally untethered, with rippling effects in our work, our children, and our health. When you and your loved one/s decide to embark in the experience of relational therapy, you are entering a dynamic in which I am able to hold non-judgemental, vulnerable space, a space for "the mess," light for hope in what may feel dark and all-consuming, along with safe tenderness and direction for re-connection. 

Relational counseling is often the most successful when people in relationship can still connect to fondness for their partner/s, amidst what may be heavy and painful. Confusion, hurt, and hopelessness are central to experience when relational distress is present, therefore, once safety and emotional risk begin to feel more available, real change can begin, and intimacy that has been lost, or was never fully cultivated, can be fostered and rooted within the relationship. 

Real change is often precipitated by what may feel uncomfortable, distressing, or even intolerable. 

Below are common threads/themes that take shape in relational work:

As a therapist, I have worked with couples with various backgrounds and presentations, from those in their 20s to those in their 70s. I often work with couples in the LGBTQIA+ community, couples who are nearing the brink of separation yet are still invested in seeing things through, couples who have experienced trauma, betrayal, and/or significant life transitions, and couples who are ready for a change both within their emotional and sexual lives.

I have experience working within the contexts of both polyamorous relationships as well as drawing from feminist, kink-affirming clinical lenses and applications. I invite real-time experiential work into our sessions, helping couples develop and experience safety and containment, and to practice new ways of interacting with one another. My relational work is foundationally inspired by my living values, first and foremost, beginning with non-violence, and unconditional positive regard for all of the identities that couples present.

Couples therapy at my practice incorporates techniques from modalities such as Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), The Gottman Method, The Relational Recovery Process (RRP), Imago & Sex Therapy, and Internal Family Systems (IFS). 

Below are common and significant challenges that couples often need help with:

Like in romantic partnerships, as social beings who are wired for connection, being disconnected from our families is often foundational to our core sense of self & identity, shaping our perceptions and level of safety, both internally, and externally with the world.  Disconnection is experienced as a threat to, specifically, a child's internal system, often resulting in complex adaptive behavior to restore a sense of connection to have their needs met.

In a fast-paced, frankly, unnatural (contextually) busy world, the pressures for families are immense. Raising children in single-parent or dual-parent households without community sets families up for attachment-based challenges. The idea of "It takes a village," was & is a more organic way of living for families to thrive, as task-demands could be dispersed. Parents are often at the whim of job pressures, lacking resources, &/or struggling with their own traumas, which invites the dance of disconnection internally & externally, within the family.

Family therapy at my practice incorporates techniques from models such as Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), The Relational Recovery Process (RRP), Integrative Attachment Family Therapy (IAFT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS). 

Below are common and significant challenges that families often need help with: