• How Therapy Helps •

Individual Counseling
I have helped hundreds of clients achieve their personal goals. Everyone gets stuck from time to time and can use a little help getting over obstacles, changing negative patterns or letting go of the past. Even strong, independent and self-reliant people need an outside perspective, a resource to help generate ideas, a mentor to guide, encourage and support, and an accountability partner to stay focused and moving in the right direction.

Couples Counseling
I enjoy helping couples develop more loving relationships. Often only one person is willing to start the process. Even if your spouse won’t join you in counseling you can make dramatic improvements in your relationship on your own. I speak your language and help you translate it so your spouse can understand you.

Telephone Counseling
Busy professionals, moms, students, physically challenged and long-distant clients can optimize their time by utilizing telephone counseling. I really enjoy working with clients by phone. It allows you to juggle the needs of a busy life, devote time to yourself and your growth, but does not cost the time and gasoline of travel through traffic, and makes us more carbon neutral. Often clients can schedule a session during lunch at work or while the kids nap and find a quiet place to talk with me for an hour. It’s an efficient use of time and can be utilized as a motivator for the rest of your day to make you even more productive and focused.

What happens in therapy?

At the beginning of therapy I take a slightly more active role, asking you questions and getting a feel for who you are and what you need. But generally, you will do most of the talking. My job is to help you understand, refine, resolve and change. I will listen for opportunities to point out where you are too close to the issues and offer insight and perspective. I will also point out patterns I detect in your thinking or behavior that indicate limiting and outdated beliefs. I will challenge and confront, but with gentleness and compassion. I will help you sort through feelings, beliefs, and thoughts so you get a clear idea of what you need to do to resolve dilemmas or problems. In the evaluation phase of therapy you will learn a lot about yourself, gain insight into behaviors and emotions that will surprise you, and identify which emotional “muscles” you need to strengthen. Then we create a plan to help you strengthen those areas.

All of us see our own life much like looking at a mosaic that is right at the end of our nose. It’s impossible to get any sense of the whole picture from there. One of my jobs is to help you gain some perspective and see the big picture. People come to therapy for many reasons: A recent client first came to see me because her last child was leaving for college. it was time for her to tend to a neglected marriage and find some focus and direction for what comes next in her life. perhaps you are dealing with a lot of stress, maybe your relationships are not as fulfilling or happy as you want. If you are not succeeding and moving ahead in life the way you want to be, or your emotions of anger, sadness, anxiety or guilt are causing you problems, counseling can help. Many of my clients complete the work they want to do in about 10 sessions. When problems of depression or issues resulting from childhood need deeper work, I will work with someone as long as necessary.

For more about choosing a therapist, a type of therapy or how to determine if someone is a good match for you, see Choosing a Therapist (pdf).