Building Great Relationships

Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have a need to be in a loving relationship with our SELF. To be in emotionally and spiritually healthy relationships, it must first begin with loving yourself wholly and completely. And YES, this means loving the light side and accepting the dark side of who we are and how God created us to be.

Individual Counseling for Adolescents, Adults, and Teens

Individual counseling is a process of exploring YOU and meeting you exactly where you are in life, but, not letting you stay there forever. Some of the issues often addressed in individual counseling are shared amongst many adolescents, adults, and teens and may include: Inability to cope with life circumstances, depression, stress / anxiety, self-esteem, identity issues, body image, eating disorders, difficulty forming or maintaining healthy relationships, physical or emotional abuse (past or present), family struggles, forgiveness of past or present hurts, and difficulty setting limits and boundaries with others. We will partner together and work toward resolution of problems and issues according to your need for change.

Couples Counseling, Pre-Marital Counseling, and Marital Counseling

Couples counseling, pre-marital counseling, and marital counseling are based on the same principals.  Couples counseling is different from therapy because the relationship is the focus of attention, instead of one individual and we focuses on the problems existing in the relationship between two people. However, relationship problems always involve individual symptoms and issues, as well as, the relationship conflicts. For example, if you are constantly arguing with your partner, you will probably also feel anxious, angry or depressed (or all three).

In couples counseling, we partner as a team and help you and your partner identify the conflict issues within your relationship. We will work together to help you decide what changes are needed in the relationship along with the behavioral changes of each partner for both to feel satisfied with the relationship = COLLABORATION.

These changes may be different ways of interacting or may be individual changes related to personal problems. Couples counseling involves learning how to effectively communicate, have productive and loving conflict, listen more intently, and keep and maintain INTIMACY and PASSION without solely relying on the bedroom. Couples will identify common life goals and how to share responsibilities within their relationship. This process can be very similar to individual counseling, mediation, and training and education. The combination of your COMMITMENT and these three components make couples counseling an effective tool for a GREAT relationship.

Family Counseling

I believe that a strong family unit provides children with a sense of belonging and value and offers a healthy network of social support. All families have conflict! However, when normal conflicts turn into daily shouting matches, family members are hurting each other emotionally (and sometimes physically), and a feeling of anger permeates the household, it’s time to do something about it. Blended families in which one or both parents bring to the marriage children from previous relationships present their own unique dynamics.

Let’s face it, it isn’t always the “Brady Bunch”, but there is help! Sometimes the conflict is caused by the inappropriate / unacceptable behavior of one or more family members and it affects everyone. While I work with those individuals to try to help them understand the cause of their actions, I also work with the entire family so everyone can provide support for each other and learn how to reduce the conflict and set loving and healthy boundaries.

Families can be thought of as a system of interacting parts. We learn how to think, feel, and behave from our “Family of Origin”. When these beliefs are not challenged and/or changed, we pass on that legacy to our children and their families and so on and so on. We will partner together as a team and work on areas of crisis toward solutions and hopeful, resolution.

Group Counseling

Group counseling involves 4-8 individuals meeting, typically, once a week for 1.5 hours. Group members share information about themselves and provide feedback to others while, myself as the group leader, facilitates productive communication in the group. Groups can be especially helpful for people who have concerns about their relationships, self-esteem, personal growth, and coping skills. Some common concerns of group members include loneliness or isolation, shyness, dependence in relationships, boundary issues, superficial relationships and/or a lack of intimacy, frequent disagreements with others, discomfort in social situations, difficulty trusting others, being easily hurt or offended, needing a lot of reassurance from others, and fear of being left or abandoned. Group therapy is the treatment of choice for several other concerns, as well.

One of the major ways that a group can be helpful to you is that it can replicate the ways you interact in your everyday life. The other group members can give feedback about how they perceive you and offer alternative ways of behaving in order to help you interact more productively. Groups are able to provide support, offer alternatives, or gently confront group members in such a way that difficulties can be resolved and new behaviors learned. Often people in a group begin to feel less alone in dealing with their problems and it may be very encouraging to hear that others have worked through similar problems.