Relationship/Family Therapy
I specializes in parenting, parent-child issues, sibling relationships, multigenerational family dynamics, and lifespan transitions. I have a particular interest in childhood trauma, spiritual trauma, grief and loss, identity formation, consensual non-monogamy, and sexual health.
I see problems as purposeful creative adaptations to ones family system. Often these adaptations are knitted into the intergenerational story of the family but may no longer suit the current needs of an family member or relationship. I am trained in Symbolic Experiential, Narrative, Contextual, and Feminist Family Therapy, Adlerian Play Therapy, and Positive Discipline.
In session, I am democratic and promote a culture of mutual respect in the therapy room. I feel that everyone’s contribution is important to the process of unfolding and reforming relationships.
Relationship Therapy
Communication
The most common problem clients address in relationship and family therapy is communication. Therapy is a space where we will train to track patterns and signals happening in relationships that maintain the current problem.
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It is amazing how problems are often revealed as attempted solutions. ​The journey of learning your communication style and that of your relationship involves gaining insight, practicing role flexibility, and attuning to the emotional interplay in relationship.
Genogram
In relationship therapy, a genogram is designed to map the structure of each partner's family of origin as well as the relational dynamics of what each partner grew up with.
Lines, symbols, and colors are act as ways to diagram the family. Observing a genogram with the therapist can help outline intergenerational patterns that persist in present-day relational problems.
Balancing Relational Ledgers
Building trust and demonstrating greater reliability are focal points of repair work. Working through betrayal and mistrust involves a process of forgiveness and giving the offender opportunities to regain trust.
Some of the toughest work in therapy revolves around mending wounds. This is the work of reconciliation.
Bond over Label
There is no one right way to be in a relationship. The bond that forms between two people is a unique entity that exists in that dyad.
Whether monogamous, polyamorous, straight, or queer, I help relationships practice getting into a space of play. Using a relationship anarchy perspective, I let the relationship be the expert of how things appear to be unfolding.
Sculpting
This technique is non-verbal, somatic, and experiential. It involves sculpting yourself and a partner or family member into a position that symbolically represents how you experience the dynamic in that moment.
Facilitated by the therapist, sculpting allows for partners and family members to embody how the other experiences them.
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Family Therapy
Winning Collaboration
There are basic rules and agreements that can be established that help family communication. Mutual respect, active listening, using 'I statements' and reframing from blaming are just a few communication agreements that can contribute to constructive conflict and negotiation.
Parent-Child Conflict
Conflicts between parents and children are extremely hard to navigate alone. At its best, it can be opportunities for transformation in the relationship; at its worst, it's painful.
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Family therapy can help give the parent and child the space they need to feel heard and understood and figure out what expectations, boundaries, or rules of engagement need to be implemented in order to find resolve with one another.
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Forgiveness & Reconciliation
Mending family wounds is a slow and intentional process. Family therapy can help with facilitating apologies and honoring the impact of harm that was done, intentionally or not.
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Forgiveness is not a single act, but an ongoing process where each member demonstrates trustworthy behavior and gives opportunity to build trust.
Family Legacy
In my experience as a family therapist, the issues that arise and how the family handles ordeals stem from a legacy from the previous generations. Themes of problems are worked on throughout family generations. In other words - "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Gain Awareness of Family Patterns
Family problems evoke a necessity to slow down and take a look at the innate roles, rules, and power dynamics with which the family operates.
Establishing Boundaries
Often, families have challenges in communicating boundaries directly that meet needs and desires. Other indirect signals of boundaries show up in conflict and relationship challenges.
With a family therapist, needs and boundaries can be directly addressed and negotiated to help each member feel that their needs are important and carry weight in the family dynamic.
