Therapist Profile

My Approach to Helping

We are relational beings - we learn and develop who we truly are and can be only in the context of relationships. And when problems arise in relationships, they have to repaired in the relationship. In order for this to happen however, each individual must work personally on the issues that pertain to their contribution to the problem in the relationship. There is value in doing individual counseling for some situations, but in the end, most problems have to do with us in the context of our relationships. Therefore, involving everyone engaged in the problem leads to better, more meaningful, and longer-lasting changes. Sometimes that means working with individuals, couples, combinations of parents and children, or even whole families together to get the problems resolved. In therapy, I sit with people in the what are often some of the most difficult circumstances they have ever faced, and we work together to figure out what needs to change. Attention Males and Females: Going to therapy doesn't mean that your relationship is at the precipice of disaster or that you are a failure - it means that you are looking realistically at a situation that needs some outside involvement. Going to therapy also doesn't have to mean that you are weak, crazy, unable, or broken - it means that you have the courage and self-awareness to know that you require some assistance is solving the problems you are dealing with. Going to get relationship therapy simply means that you've tried what you know, and it isn't working the way it needs to in order for everyone involved to be satisfied. I am an experiential therapist. This means that I operate from the understanding that change occurs in the session. We discuss an issue and possible solutions, and often, I will have clients practice those potential solutions during a session. I do this because they will later need to take and apply this skill to a real-life situations at home. And that is really where the proverbial rubber meets the road. What we do during a session is important because it creates awareness and initial change, but even more important are the things that clients do in the other six days and twenty three hours during the week that they aren't with me. That's where life happens, and where conflict occurs. In therapy, I use a variety of methods including regular between-session homework, two-way discussion and response techniques, in-session skills practice, and others. I work from a Christian-based perspective, but am sensitive to other people's spiritual practices and beliefs as they uniquely affect each person and situation. In some ways, therapy is a spiritual experience because as we open up the most pained and sensitive parts of ourselves to the people who can have the deepest impacts on us, either for good or bad, we expose our souls to each other. If we do this in ways that are constructive and useful, we can not only create change, but we can deepen relationships through the fact that we went through and came out the other side of deep struggle. That is really what therapy is all about - resolving conflict, and deepening and restoring relationships.