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I work with individuals with personal, emotional, or relationship problems. The “presenting
complaints” usually focus on anxiety, depression, or anxiety/panic attacks. Many of my appointments come from married
couples, or couples/partners in committed relationships. Couples often feel “disconnected” from each other. They
feel like roommates. Communication is usually poor with arguments over the same old issues. Intimacy is lacking. The
question often is: “Why bother to continue?” But then, “What about all the time and energy we’ve
invested? Do we want to throw aside all we have built together?” You’ve
come to our site because you’re frustrated, hurt, angry, or depressed…because you’re “upset”
about the direction your life is taking as an individual, a partner, parent, or family member. AND you’re wondering
if counseling can help make things better. I hope what you read here will help you in making your decision. Individual therapy is often sought because of feeling depressed, anxious, stressed,
or angry. You may have anxiety/panic attacks, a sense of isolation, or seem stuck in grief…feel “you’re
losing it”. You may have been a victim of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or trauma. All in all, not
happy with our life. Therapy usually starts with a session focused on the reason for seeking counseling, and the goals
for coming to therapy. In this session I get to know you a little and you get to see if you are comfortable with me. The
second session is typically devoted to family history. Here we talk about mom, dad, brothers and sisters, school
experience and what happened after you left home. Our eye is on areas of strength and areas which need strengthening. After
this, we generally are able to form a clearer direction for therapy and have a good idea of what needs to be worked on to
meet your goals. Couples therapy begins
similar to the individual session and is typically followed by two individual sessions with each partner/spouse…again,
looking for trip wires that are hindering developing the loving relationship that you want. At the fourth session the
three of us are back together and begin to focus on the stuff that needs to improve to get you back into a more positive mode. If
you have children it’s not unusual that some issues of parenting need to be addressed along with communication to get
the family back on track…and the relationship on track. To help with this getting “the relationship on track”
couples are typically asked to buy copies of the book Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by
John Gottman. In this book are exercises aimed at improving the relationship via improved communication and conflict
resolution. So, yes, there is homework...and to have a good, intimate relationship you must be willing to work. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), which means that my orientation, training,
and experience, for a large part, uses the “family system” approach to conceptualize the problems we encounter
and the road to improvement. As individuals, our early “training” is in our family of origin…our relationships
to our mother and father, brothers and sisters. It is here that we develop our sense of self, develop our emotional,
relationship, and parenting behaviors which we then take and implement in adult life. Complicating things a bit are experiences,
or events in our life, which might be labeled “traumatic”. These are, basically, our “bad memories.” We
all have bad memories…some minor…some pretty intense…these can then affect us in ways that we are aware,
but most often in ways we are unaware. Much of the work focuses on improving, or eliminating the negative responses connected
to these negative memories. This is where EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) comes in. EMDR is
a tool to make changes in these negative memories. The ideal and common goal is to eliminate the bad feelings associated
with the negative memory. I know this can sound confusing and doubtful at this point, but as we work clients often say
“It makes sense.” From our early sessions we are typically able to develop concrete goals and objects for
therapy and therefore know when we are done. My Educational and Specialized training: BA – Psychology from the University
of Wisconsin-Stout, in Menomonie, Wisconsin. MA – Counseling Psychology, from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. I received post-graduate training at Florida
State University in the Marriage and Family Program, and the Counseling Psychology
Program.
Certified EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing) Therapist. EMDRIA Tampa Bay Regional Coordinator Member of the EMDR International Association. Clinical Member of the AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy).
I am on the panel of most insurance companies, such as Aetna, Cigna, ComPsych, Corporate Care Works, Evolutions, Humana,
Magellan, MHNet, PHCS, TriCare, United Health Services, VMS, and others. Even if I am not on your company's panel,
you may still have "out of network" benefits and receive reimbursement. If you are without insurance, or wish
not to use insurance, I work with clients to establish a fee which is workable. My standard fee for services begins
at $70 with a maximum of $120 per session with the session length being 50 minutes. With insurance, a client's
obligation is the insurance companies designated co-pay. To schedule
an appointment, or to speak with me, please call 727-736-3717, or click here to email me. If you want me to call you, leave a number on your email and I will
get back to you as soon as I can.
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