Family Therapy

Genogram, exploring family systems, mapping,

My passion is to help families who are hanging on by a string. The love that parents have for their children is universal. Every parent wants to provide their children with more than what they had growing up. But the blueprint of parenting that we were raised by is entirely different from the blueprint needed to raise a teen in our ever-changing, technology-driven, modern day culture. Parenting is the most humbling journey with the most steep learning curve but you are not alone.

Integrating family into the work with children and adolescents is key and family therapy is a big part of the work I do. For young people struggling with disordered eating, I am also trained in Family Based Therapy specifically for supporting families in feeding their child.

Families can be the most joyous experience in anyone’s life but also the most challenging and sometimes heart breaking. These are the people you are the closest with in your life and share a deep bond with. I look at everyone’s perspective in the challenges that they face and work together to find the best possible outcome. Everyone’s voice should and will be heard when we work together.

I believe that the space between people is the most powerful place to create change. We are all embedded in relationships and come from families, no matter our current situations, and even individuals carry with us a history of those relationships. A family systems orientation lets me take into account far more than just what's in any one person's "head" when it comes to getting unstuck. I am a Clinical Fellow of AAMFT and have held leadership positions in many family therapy organizations.

There are various fictions floating around about what it takes to be a perfect family. However, the emphasis on perfect is destructive, because it’s an impossible goal. The point is more to have a loving, well-functioning family where kids are cherished and supported to become thriving, fulfilled adults who themselves know how to have good (not perfect) relationships. This always requires constant adaptation and tinkering. I love working with motivated families!

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I think systemically about how issues effect the family. For instance, if a teen and their parent(s) are experiencing conflict, what is everyone's role in that conflict and the family system? How can we unpack and change patterns of communication that may be harmful or passed down generationally? I enjoy helping clients think creatively about conflicts where they might feel stuck.

I have been working with couples and families for my entire career. I have developed an effective approach to help families ands couples stop blaming and to develop a solutions-focus. We can work on effective conflict resolution so that partners and families are able to reconnect as partners/groups.

I have 2 years post masters training in family therapy. I am an approved supervisor with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy ( AAMFT). I have been a practicing family therapist for over 30 years. Besides therapy, I have provided supervision, consultation, and training in working with families in various settings both here and abroad

Please see the My Background and Approach section for more information regarding this specialty.

Goals of family therapy often include improving the communication, solving family problems, understanding and handling special family situations, and creating a better functioning home environment.

I have 2 years post masters training in family therapy. I am an approved supervisor with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy ( AAMFT). I have been a practicing family therapist for over 30 years. Besides therapy, I have provided supervision, consultation, and training in working with families in various settings both here and abroad

I have completed training in Functional Family Therapy. It is a 3 stage model that seeks to identify the underlying emotions that are leading to the conflict in the family, then choosing specific skills to address these and make change, and finally to discuss how to maintain the changes made during therapy.

I truly enjoy working with adult family members to come together to change and heal. Families tell me that my humor, strengths-based nature, and ability to be on everyone’s team at the same time are qualities that help them take courageous risks in therapy. I help family members connect with one another emotionally, to help them understand the dynamics that keep them in unhelpful interaction patterns, and identify the intergenerational ways they have built their family story.

I provide family therapy as a stand-alone service or (when clinically indicated) as an adjunctive intervention for my individual therapy patients. Please see the My Background and Approach section for more information regarding this specialty.

I received formal training in family therapy using a systemic approach. I have experience working with multigenerational families on a variety of issues.