My Approach to Helping

I believe we all have the innate capacity to heal emotional wounds and change our problematic behaviors, and my greatest reward is to help you boost your ability to live a happy and purposeful life. My mission as a therapist is to help you find safety, security, well-being, purpose, and meaning; to live authentically, in integrity with your fellows as well as your own beliefs.

My approach integrates "top down" (mind) with "bottom up" (body) interventions; that is, I combine a cognitive or thinking-oriented focus with a somatic or body-oriented, sensory focus. I use tools from several therapeutic approaches, including developmental trauma models (i.e., The Meadows model, NeuroAffective Relational Model), Somatic Experiencing, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, bibliotherapy, mindfulness-based interventions, psycho-education based on established neuroscience, and connection with your own spiritual beliefs. If you are willing to move toward lasting change, I welcome the opportunity to serve as your guide.

Feel free to give me a call. I'm happy to give you a free phone consultation, and at that time I can also let you know if I have openings for new clients. :)

More Info About My Practice

My approach is strongly influenced by my work at The Meadows of Wickenburg using Pia Mellody's model of developmental immaturity, which examines early life experiences and how these continue to influence our current behavior and relationships.

I also use principles of Somatic Experiencing which focuses on body sensation to help clients gradually release traumatic energy stored in the nervous system, thereby improving central nervous system regulation, and leading to improved feelings of personal safety, security, worthiness, and wholeness.

In addition, my approach to relational/developmental trauma is enhanced by my training in NeuroAffective Relational Model, which helps us recognize how current behavior patterns may be related to unconscious patterns of disconnection created in our formative years.

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

My practice is primarily focused on helping people address family of origin issues, relational/developmental trauma, and the dysfunctional coping patterns that these create: depression, anxiety, addictions/self-medicating patterns, co-dependence and boundary problems, among many others too numerous to list. I also have significant experience as a family therapist, helping family members and other loved ones who are in relationships with addicted persons.

My View on the Nature of 'Disorders'

I prefer a client-centered approach which focuses on the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that are getting in the way of you being fully present in your life. As such, I tend to limit the use of labels of disorders and diagnoses.

You are not a disorder. You see, I believe all behavior is purposeful. Whatever someone is doing, there is a reason for it, even though it might not make sense to us, or someone else might not think it is a good or logical reason. And it's my experience that these behaviors are usually just our attempt to cope with adverse experiences we've had in the past.

My job is to try to help you find the underlying causes and conditions for the pattern you want to change, not to judge it as wrong or to pathologize your means of coping. In fact, that coping pattern probably helped you get through life. So congratulations! And good for you for doing what you needed to get by. Now, if you've determined that coping pattern is no longer working, or it's causing more suffering than its worth, I can help you change.