Parenting
People often encounter difficulty (and the potential for growth) when navigating the complexities associated with becoming parents. For instance how to maintain relationships with partners, family, friends, and balance work-life. Counseling provides a space where parents can explore shifts in identity and understanding of what it means to be a parent, explore relationships with their own parents, and learn to be intentional about roles and behaviors.
There is no greater joy or challenge then welcoming a child into our lives and no greater loss than losing a child. I work with parents who have brought children into their lives through birth, adoption, and fostering as well as parents enduring pregnancy loss (including miscarriage, stillbirth, and termination).
See Walking and Talking page to learn more about bringing your children with you in either stroller or carrier. We can walk while processing the issues for which you seek counseling. In the midst of your busy day, you don’t have to choose between exercise and psychotherapy.
Families
Families are made up of many moving parts that are influenced by complex systems of individual thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Being in a family requires a lot of adjustments. Counseling can create the space to maintain and strengthen family connection. I work with families struggling with implications of addiction, divorce/separation, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and death/illness.
I have extensive experience working with children both in therapeutic preschools and through contracted work with our local school districts. My approach to working with school-aged children is influenced by Leah Kuyper and Michelle Garcia Winner’s bodies of work. I help children learn to identify their feelings and express their needs while practicing how to communicate this information with others through role-play and creative projects.
Adolescents
Becoming an adult is a process of individuation, identity formation, and an exploration of values. I have worked extensively with young adults as they explore who they are and how they chose to interact with and be a part of the world around them. Often stress reduction, well-being, career exploration, self-esteem, and relationships are central issues. Together, we explore and make sense of the confusion, hope, and loneliness. Together, we explore new ways of coping and relating to the world around us.
Common issues include:
Stress management and overwhelm (academic and extracurricular)
Athletic pressures and performance issues
Anxiety (e.g. Social Anxiety)
Depression
Body image issues
Substance abuse
Coping with social pressure and party culture
Figuring out what it is you want post-graduation
Dating issues
Peer pressure and social anxiety
Parent/sibling struggles