Aruba joined my psychotherapy practice in November of 2015.  She came to me via an amazing program called Freedom Service Dogs (FSD).  Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) utilizes trained animals and handlers to achieve physical, social, cognitive, and emotional goals with clients. 

When she was almost 2-years-old, Aruba was donated to FSD and spent a year completing extensive training until she was ready to take on the role of therapeutic partner. That's when she was paired with me and is now my constant companion.  Together we completed the final step as therapy dog and handler and we are now certified through FSD.  Aruba is a Standard Poodle (hypoallergenic) and is my office with me most days.

Specialties

I specialize in the following areas to support your emotional healing and mental health issues:

  • Trauma

  • Self-Esteem

  • Couples Therapy

  • Family Therapy (with adult children)

  • Shame Resilience

  • Premarital Education

  • Family of Origin Issues

  • Relationship Disappointment

  • Loss of Hope and Ongoing Unhappiness

  • Stress

  • Life/Career Transitions

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Grief and Loss

Certifications and Training

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a powerful and effective treatment modality that is helpful in treating people that suffer from trauma, anxiety, disturbing memories, and various other emotional problems.  The technique was created in the late 80's and there's a multitude of research that supports its effectiveness.

“During EMDR the client attends to emotionally disturbing material in brief sequential doses while simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus. Therapist directed lateral eye movements are the most commonly used external stimulus but a variety of other stimuli including hand-tapping and audio stimulation are often used (Shapiro, 1991). Shapiro (1995) hypothesizes that EMDR facilitates the accessing of the traumatic memory network, so that information processing is enhanced, with new associations forged between the traumatic memory and more adaptive memories or information. These new associations are thought to result in complete information processing, new learning, elimination of emotional distress, and development of cognitive insights. EMDR uses a three pronged protocol: (1) the past events that have laid the groundwork for dysfunction are processed, forging new associative links with adaptive information; (2) the current circumstances that elicit distress are targeted, and internal and external triggers are desensitized; (3) imaginal templates of future events are incorporated, to assist the client in acquiring the skills needed for adaptive functioning.”
— www.emdr.com FAQ

The Daring Way™

I am a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator and Approved Consultant (CDWF-C). The Daring Way™ is a highly experiential methodology based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown. The method was developed to help men, women, and adolescents learn how to show up, be seen, and live braver lives. The primary focus is on developing shame resilience skills and developing a courage practice that transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. It can be facilitated in clinical, educational, and professional settings and is suitable for work with individuals, couples, families, work teams, and organizational leaders. 

The Developmental Model for Couples

Developed by Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson in the 1980s, the developmental model of couples therapy does not focus on pathology but instead emphasizes the role of development in relationships. This model compares adulthood development of relationships to childhood procession through typical developmental stages. According to the model, it is natural for relationships to change as partners spend more time together and develop as a team.

Because partners do not always change in the same way or at the same time, potential challenges may develop over the course of the relationship. Conflict may arise when couples are not able to manage a new developmental stage, for example, or when each partner is in a different stage.  -GoodTherapy.com

“The human heart...tells us that we are more alike than we are unalike.”
— Maya Angelou