Relationships are central to our lives and our growth. None of us exist in this world without some sorts of relationships– parents, children, friends, lovers, bosses, coworkers, employees, neighbors, doctors, clergy, and many more. Sadly, these relationships don’t always meet our needs and figuring out how to get the love and affection and attention that we want can be difficult. It’s even harder to do when our first relationships (the ones we had with our parents) didn’t teach us how to balance dependence with interdependence, or create intimacy without sacrificing ourselves, or protect ourselves while also trusting others.
Therapy is a wonderful playground for learning how to do those things and trying out more effective and more satisfying ways of being in relationship. One of the qualities that differentiates the therapeutic relationship from most other relationships is that there’s little risk of abandonment or rejection. Ideally we experience that kind of security with our parents, but too often it’s not available or is conditional.
I work with individuals and couples (of any gender combination) to help them learn how to interact with others so that they can get their needs met and be responsive to other people’s needs. I also help people learn how to be true to themselves while maintaining healthy relationships. And I help people learn to experience and create intimacy without feeling ‘swallowed up’ or like they’ve lost themselves.
