As a Certified Gottman Couples Therapist, I use Dr. John Gottman's research-based assessments and counseling techniques to help you reduce negativity and rebuild the intimacy in your relationship. I also have advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy and integrate this approach in my work with couples. Getting to emotion is an important part of this work, and my job will not be to soothe you but to teach you how to self-soothe and soothe your partner so you can be a port in the storm and create a safe haven for each other. It is my firm belief that we can get to the root of your relationship problems without either of you feeling as though you're about to be identified as the “pathological partner” or the one who is deficient or bad. Instead, we'll work in a respectful, collaborative way to help you deepen your understanding of each other as well as strengthen the friendship that is a vital part of repair. At the end of therapy, most people tell me that our work was a positive emotional experience and that they enjoyed the sessions as well as the homework and exercises.

How the therapy is structured
       We need to do a thorough assessment of relationship strengths and weaknesses so that the areas we target are not based on guesswork. With this in mind, we will have several sessions devoted solely to information gathering. Our first two sessions (45 minutes each) will be spent exploring your hopes and fears about therapy; the history of your relationship; and some areas of current difficulty. At the end of the second session, I will give each of you a detailed questionnaire to complete on your own and bring back to an individual session. During your individual session (45 minutes), we will discuss your individual history as well as any other topics you consider relevant. Anything discussed in an individual session can be brought up in later couple sessions. Once I've reviewed the completed questionnaires, we'll schedule a third couples meeting to give you feedback from the assessment process, to go over the treatment plan, and to jointly decide which issues to focus on first..

Time commitment
        I recommend a 10 session commitment after the assessment period. Following these 10 sessions, we can move to less frequent sessions and if it seems feasible, begin to phase out the therapy. Beyond that, we will schedule 2 sessions for follow up: 1 session after 6 months and another after 12 months. Research shows that these type of "tune-ups" significantly reduce the chance for relapse.