Areas of Expertise
Premarital Counseling
Entering into marriage brings so much excitement. But no marriage is perfect or carefree. Struggles are inevitable. Being with a person full time adds stress to a relationship. Figuring out chores, expectations and responsibilities can bring up issues that were not expected. Premarital counseling will help you prepare for those struggles and challenges. We prepare for most other things in life, why not your marriage? It may seem like you will be bringing difficulties to your wedding planning, but it will be easier now instead of years from now.
Relationship Counseling
Relationships are tough. You may feel stuck in your routine, personal and couple growth, are unable to communicate or feeling alone. How do you proceed or find your way out to a better relationship? Learning new skills and techniques with communication. Learning about your partner again. Discover what you are missing from each other. Where is the attachment broken? Having those difficult discussions are not easy and need to guidance by someone who can help you and ask the right questions. I can help you do that. Become that couple that you dream of.
Life Transition Counseling
Life transitions are those moments in life that are expected and unexpected. Birth, death, loss of job, marriage, trauma, empty nest are all life transitions. Whether expected or not, they can be difficult to handle. It can bring grief, feelings of loss, depression and anxiety. Sharing these changes or transitions and developing ways to process and/or heal can help with the transitions. Developing skills or just talking about what is going on can help during these difficult times.
Grief Counseling
As a certified grief counseling specialist, I understand that grief is something that we cannot escape. Grief is a crippling, painful emotion that has no time limit or expiration date. Will it ever end? Will I ever be ok? Why is this so hard? These are all questions people ask when they lose someone they know and love, lose a job, go through a major life transition and even the loss of a pet. It affects people of all ages.
My Approach
As I said before, our lives take us in so many directions, meeting so many people. Our families, work, communities and transitions can make an impact on your life that you may struggle with. One of the first things I do is to get to know you looking back historically. What happened for you to get here. I am looking for connections, patterns that can influence how you behave and think.
Communication, especially with couples, is usually a topic of concern. We talk about communication. How do you relate to each other, do you listen to each other. There are skills that ban be learned to help with the communication process that will be a foundation or platform that we can then work from. Without communication, you are stuck.
I utilize several theories of marriage and family therapy such as Emotionally Focused Therapy, Narrative, Therapy, Solution Focused even Structural. Every client is different and together we can find the best direction to go in based on what would be most effective for you.
Together we will work on creating goals and talk about the things that are going on, not just the surface stuff, but through a systemic approach that looks at you and your life or lives.