Stanley "Bruce" Berger, Licensed Mental Heath Counselor, 20 Years Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, 40 Years as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

The ongoing conflict with your spouse is draining you. You’re stuck in the same cycles, trying to explain yourself while feeling unheard, misunderstood, or blamed, and no amount of conversation seems to help. In fact, attempts to connect make you feel even lonelier when nothing changes. That connection that once felt so easy now feels distant, replaced by tension, defensiveness, and silence. You ask yourself where the partner you fell in love with went, and why it feels so hard to find your way back to each other. Beneath the frustration, both of you want the same thing: to feel understood, respected, and close again. I help individuals and couples by assisting in identifying strengths and weaknesses, and by providing support, thereby creating an atmosphere that often motivates individuals and couples to take action. Transitions such as unemployed to employed, substance use to sobriety, and divorce to being single are some of the many topics I can provide support and resources for. I have worked with the military for over 20 years. No one is perfect, and failures are a way to learn something different, so I encourage clients to see what is the lesson or positive message in the negative experience. I also challenge clients not to beat themselves up for past or present failures, but to look at the experience as a "glass of water half full," not half empty. We are all learning to be human.