My Approach
Through compassionate witnessing, safe holding and evidence-based models, it is my work to help bring forth a sense of wholeness in self and other; ever guiding you towards secure functioning. What does this really mean? It means we will learn to trust and respect the process of sharing experiences while revealing the meaning we attach to them, so that feelings of suffering and disconnection can be transformed into love and understanding. Collectively we will turn obstacles into opportunities and defensiveness into compassionate curiosity. It means you will no longer be functioning from a place
sculpture "Love" by Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov;Burning Man 2015, photographer unknown
of old harmful patterns, but rather from a place of trust and courageous vulnerability. It is my intention to help you find the therapeutic keys that will unlock your access to more joy, trust and loving connection. I truly believe relationship is all there is in this world...relationship with self and other. Let us make our relationships a fulfilling experience together.
Specializing in Couples Therapy
PACT
Psychobiological Attachment Couples Therapy
As a PACT Level II therapist, I will utilize affect regulation, body language and perception to guide you towards the skillful art of nonverbal attunement, empathy and loving negotiation.
PACT stands for Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy®, created by Stan Tatkin. PACT incorporates the following three areas of study: neuroscience, attachment theory, and the biology of human arousal.
PACT sessions may differ somewhat from what you would experience in other forms of couple therapy.
What does a session look like:
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I will focus on moment-to-moment shifts in face, body, and voice, and ask you to pay close attention to these as a couple.
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I will create experiences that can provide possibility for deeper connection and bonding.
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I will create experiences similar to those troubling your relationship and help you work through them in real-time during the session.
EFT
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Authentic
Movement
EFT recognizes and admits that you are emotionally attached to and dependent on your partner in much the same way that a child is on a parent for nurturing, soothing, and protection.
EFT stands for Emotionally Focused Therapy, created by Sue Johnson. The goal is on creating and strengthening emotional bonds by identifying and transforming the key moments that foster an adult loving relationship.
Hold Me Tight, an EFT application written and created by Sue Johnson, walks a couple through seven conversations that capture the defining moments in a love relationship and instructs how to shape these moments to create a secure and lasting bond.
Seven Transforming Conversations:
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Recognizing Demon Dialogues
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Finding the Raw Spots
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Revisiting a Rocky Moment
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Hold Me Tight
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Forgiving Injuries
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Bonding Through Sex and Touch
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Keeping Your Love Alive
With a degree in Somatic Psychology and 5 years training in Authentic Movement, I honor and trust how felt sensation in body plays and interacts with memory and inner dialogue.
Through this work, couples learn to strengthen their own internal witness through awareness of impulses, somatic responses, sensation, affect and thought processes. With eyes closed, couples can take a brief moment to track and witness themselves before participating in a multi-person system. The goal is to not lose connection to self, when in connection to other. I often use the analogy of having one eye focused internally on self while having one eye focused on witnessing other: "one eye in; one eye out". If there is an emphasis for both eyes turned inward, the focus remains heavily on internal material. If there is an emphasis for both eyes turned on other, the focus remains heavily on external feedback. This work cultivates a journey into authentic truth while challenging defensive projections, strengthening the collective experience of "we".