Services
Services Provided
I provide individual therapy (for adults) and couples therapy.
Some issues I frequently work on with clients include:
- Relationship Issues: Communication, Conflict Regulation, Intimacy, Infidelity
- Pre-Marital Exploration
- Alcohol / Substance Abuse and Recovery
- Depression and Anxiety
- Personal Growth and Development
- Life Transitions
- Queer Issues (from an open and affirming perspective)
- Burnout Prevention/Stress Management
- Family of Origin
- Religion/Faith and Sexual Identity
Couples Therapy Approach
In doing work with couples, I employ Gottman Method Couples Therapy along with Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT), Woodsfellow Couples Therapy, Relational Life Therapy, and other theoretical orientations.
The Gottman Method Couples Therapy is based on Dr. John Gottman’s research that began in the 1970s and continues to this day. The research has focused on what makes marriages succeed or fail. From this research, Drs. John and Julie Gottman have created a method of therapy that emphasizes a nuts-and-bolts approach to improving clients’ relationships. This method is designed to help teach specific tools to deepen friendship and intimacy in your relationship and to learn to productively manage conflicts.
Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples is an approach developed by Dr. Sue Johnson based in attachment theory, and it has been validated by empirical studies. This approach seeks to help couples understand the negative patterns or cycles at work in the relationship that foster distance and to work to create new patterns and ways of relating that deepen connection.
Woodsfellow Couples Therapy identifies the fear cycle that under-girds a couple’s arguments and difficult conversations and a number of approaches to break the cycle. The method also identifies a couple’s love cycle.
Relational Life Therapy is a more direct approach where the therapist sometimes does take sides; where helping couples understand each other’s subjective reality and working toward a solution is the point rather than seeking “objective reality”; where “who’s right?” is irrelevant; where each partner is neither “one-up” nor “one-down,” but both are equal; and where each partner learns to take responsibility for their own needs and learn how to express those effectively.
My work with couples, using both of these approaches, follows a standard assessment format:
- Before the initial session I will ask you to fill out my intake forms and two online questionnaires (PREPARE/ENRICH and Gottman Connect).
- In the initial 90-minute session I will meet with you as a couple and invite you to talk about the history of your relationship, areas of concern, and goals for therapy.
- In the following two sessions (50 minutes each) I will meet with each of you individually to learn your personal histories and to give each of you an opportunity to share thoughts, feelings, and perceptions (NOT relationship secrets).
- In the fourth session (90 minutes) I will share with you my recommendations for treatment and to define mutually agreed-upon goals for your therapy.
The frequency of sessions and length of therapy will be determined by your specific needs and goals.
Premarital Counseling
I am trained and certified in PREPARE/ENRICH, an assessment and counseling approach for couples preparing for marriage or seeking to improve their marriage. I generally recommend at least six counseling sessions for couples preparing for marriage (after the four-session assessment process described above). Note that many counties in Georgia offer a discount on the marriage license for couples who have received premarital counseling/education. Check with your county about requirements.
Psychology/counseling students please note:
There are no internship or administrative opportunities available in my practice.