Work Experience & Specializations

Relationship Therapy for Couples and Individuals

Over the past 20 years, we have started to understand how our brains learn from experience and function within a social context. As Louis Cozolini explains in his book “The Neuroscience of Human Relationships,” loving relationships can heal our social brains. Even when early attachments were not secure, healthy relationships and personal growth seem capable of reshaping the circuits of the social brain in positive ways, thus creating an “earned” secure attachment in adulthood. Nowhere else does this matter more than in our primary relationships with our partners.

My work with couples has included couples in recovery from addictions and trauma, couples in transition due to a job loss or health changes, and couples dealing with the aftermath of an affair. Coming from an attachment and family systems orientation, my work with couples is relational and experiential. Couples work toward developing secure attachment while developing skills to help manage distress in the relationship.

Adult ADD/ADHD

Since beginning private practice in 1993, one of my favorite specialties has been assisting highly creative adults who struggle with concerns related to ADD and/or ADHD. ADD/ADHD is much more than difficulties with Inattention, Hyperactivity, or Impulsivity. It is a complex disorder originating in childhood that impacts motivation, self-esteem, and basically all aspects of everyday life.

I have found that many if not most adults with ADD (Inattentive, Hyperactive, or Combined Type) are wonderfully creative and amazing people. ADD can be difficult to diagnose as it often presents like PTSD, Complex PTSD, or a variety of anxiety disorders. Working with ADD adults calls for assessment of these important clinical issues prior to determining that a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD is accurate.

Other Work Experience

Other areas of concentration and specialization include treatment for Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Grief, Womens’ Issues and LIfe Transitions. Using an AIP lens, many times these concerns are based in traumatic life events and/or developmental trauma and are markedly improved with EMDR Therapy and the integration of IFS, Ego State Therapy, and Somatic Interventions.