As I have a Humanistic background and education, I learned to focus on the strengths inherent in each individual, couple, and family. My fundamental belief is that people are innately good and that psychological and mental problems often stem from a rigid or outdated coping system. In therapy, I stress each individual's growth and emphasize the importance of self-actualization. In couples therapy, there is an emphasis on learning to listen to the emotional truth of the other, while also gaining greater authenticity in expressing one's own truth. Through self-awareness and genuine appreciation of one another, couples can learn to re-create, or perhaps experience for the very first time, true understanding, connection, joy and love.