Relationship Challenges

You will receive help with frustrations, communication difficulties, trust issues, lack of intimacy, sexual problems, commitment issues, anger and self-esteem problems, dealing with losses, unfaithfulness, misunderstandings, frequent fighting or general unhappiness between spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, parents/children, managers/employees, and others. In session we will assess whether to work through these individually or in a couple, a family or a group setting.

In Individual Therapy you will receive an understanding and practical tools how to deal with both yours and the other person’s ‘”disturbing’ behavior”. You will explore how the issue is related to your life experience, negative behavior patterns and perception and find new coping tools. You will be able to heal the underlying causes that are generally created through unpleasant memories in your family of origin and faulty beliefs and reactions resulting from that.

Couples Therapy is generally successful helping with: improving communication skills,dealing better with anger, stress and anxiety, negotiating and resolving differences, sexual and intimacy challenges, unfaithfulness, dealing with blended family issues and other life stressors that affect both of you. Often a couple feels closer, the unique expression of love and caring of your partner is seen and valued more, one learns how to support the other and their language of love, which improves trust and feeling safe. Ideally both are willing to be open and vulnerable. Sometimes one or both are unsure if they want to continue the relationship. Therapy can help making a seemingly very difficult decision and bring support and healing to any possible outcome.

Trauma

Many people who have suffered from some form of trauma, neglect or abuse in their life come to me. It could be from childhood, adolescence, from recent or current relationships. Sometimes one doesn’t have a clear memory, but just has a feeling that something bad or wrong happened. Or one has hardly any memories and wants to find out more. I will work on the level you are comfortable, whether you mainly want coping skills for your current life  situation or whether you are motivated to heal the root causes. In this case  feel free to read more about EMDR as a highly effective method of trauma  healing. Sometimes the trauma is about something that you have witnessed or  that happened to a loved one. I have had many years of training and experience on trauma work  and people share feeling very safe with me. Other forms of trauma treated are  accidents, natural disasters, war, medical treatment, death, divorce or any kind of losses.

Anxiety/Stress Management

Anxiety and all its siblings; stress, pressure, tension, nervousness, worry, fear and obsessive thoughts are considered the number # 1 mental health disturbance in the US. Our modern lifestyle with its fast pace and constant changes often requires additional coping tools. I work with you in becoming more effective at managing your thoughts and feelings, and also on reducing them at their source. Giving you tools to help you change the way you think is very effective. Tools described under EMDR and Yoga Therapy can be a good treatment of choice to completely heal phobias and most anxieties.

 

Depression

Feeling sad or unmotivated, or not having the energy to get out of unhappy life circumstances, being physically drained, overeating or oversleeping, worrying constantly and having feelings of hopelessness are some of the common symptoms of depression.The tools I use to get you out of this miserable place will be using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and often EMDR to clear underlying causes. I focus on helping you change your negative thought patterns. Yoga therapy also is very effective and often an alternative for those who do not feel comfortable taking medication. I will collaborate with your psychiatrist or provide you with a referral if medication will be beneficial to you.

 

Self-Esteem

If you lack self-esteem it will influence all areas of your life and will determine how you perceive your relationships and yourself. I will help you uncover the root memories that led to your insecurities and help you gain a more realistic assessment of your Self so that you can build self-confidence. Learning to love and value yourself and establish healthy boundaries with others, is much easier with the help of a healing therapist that can see your potential and reflect that back. Who you are does not need to be defined by challenging life experiences.

Grief & Loss

A loss is often the reason why someone decides to seek help from a therapist. You can be helped to come to a place of acceptance and strength, and supported in sharing all the feelings that sometimes have to be suppressed in every day life. Losing a loved one is considered as one of the biggest stressor in the human experience. Suffering that stems from other types of losses such as a break up, divorce or layoff can be greatly reduced with therapy. EMDR is very helpful in that aspect.

Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life – Spirituality and Awakening

Sometimes life doesn’t feel satisfying and fulfilling. I can support you in feeling more engaged and alive in your day-to-day activities, relationships, and career. If you are seeking to deepen your spirituality, I can assist you in applying principles of spiritual psychology. This can lead to a deeper feeling of connectedness to God, Source, Creation and lead to a deeper self-appreciation of who you are. I work well with people of all faiths and different cultures. The word awakening is used in the sense of, your innate growth process in which you are naturally “awakening” to who you truly are in your being, versus an identity that you took on shaped by your profession, your status, your family, your role, your ego, to name a few. This awakening process is both fulfilling and gratifying and can be scary and shake up your world as you knew it. To be supported by a trusting therapist, spiritual teacher can be very helpful.

Parenting and Step-Parenting

You will receive “hands on” parenting tools to help you deal with the particular challenges in your family life. Parenting works well either with or without the children in therapy. Together, we will determine this as I assess your particular situation.

 

Chronic and Severe Illness

If you or your loved ones face any kind of illness you will receive tools, insight, and healing into the psychological aspect of your illness. As I work with the mind/body concept, you will find that coming to therapy can very often improve or heal your physical illness. Guided imagery, Journaling, Art Therapy, EMDR and Yoga Therapy are all very helpful modalities.

Acculturation

Moving from another place, let alone another country with a different language, different customs, view points, behaviors, being separated from your family of origin, loss of friends and common surrounding can be very challenging. This can create considerable stress or feelings of helplessness. With my own experiences of living in different countries and having supported many clients from different cultures, if possible in their language, therapy can be helpful in dealing with all the feelings and finding one’s place in the new environment. Being the second generation of immigrants can have its own challenges in regards to dealing with different value systems and expectation of family members. Therapy can help to come to a construction solution benefiting you.

Job and Career

Unhappiness at your workplace or struggling with not being treated well can often be cured by assisting you in gaining the strength of changing behaviors that haven’t worked well for you in the past. Often the same patterns that played out in your family of origin can be playing out at work. For example, you might hear your boss talk in the same critical voice that your father spoke with, and reenact poor communication skills that keep you stuck. Therapy can aid in establishing more self-serving patterns and getting the confidence to improve your situation. Performance Enhancement, is a method used in EMDR to help you clear old fears and failures and be able to establish success at a much highler level.

 

Addictions, Codependency, Abuse of Food or Substances

Often these unhealthy behaviors mask or “medicate” feelings of unhappiness or inner emptiness. With the help of a person holding you accountable, it is far easier to find your way out of a behavior that is self-sabotaging. I can support you in your motivation to let go of your former “best friend” and in gain the strength to make better choices. Using EMDR to treat addictions and compulsive negative behaviors is a new method that I have found to be very successful without having to manage or control the former addictive behavior. You will be surprised by its effectiveness and relatively easy application.

Note: If the issue you’d like help with isn’t listed above, please feel free to get in touch with me. Over the phone or on email we can explore if your challenge is within my areas of expertise. If I am not the right fit for you I am happy to refer you to another qualified professional.