Problem:

Falling in love is an incredible and rewarding experience. However, maintaining healthy intimate relationships for long stretches of time is no easy task for anyone, no matter how much true love exists within the relationship. Once the excitement and novelty of a new relationship eventually wears off, which it naturally and inevitably does, relationships require hard work and nourishment in order to be lasting and satisfying. It can be quite disappointing when a once exhilarating relationship turns into a source of pain. Sometimes relationships suffer due to obvious mistakes from one or both partners (such as infidelity or abuse), while other times there is no specific event but rather a cascade of external stressors that negatively impact the relationship. Whatever the reason, marital problems can bring on feelings of deep sadness, anger, confusion, fear and loss.

Symptoms:

Signs that you may benefit from therapy for your martial problems include:

• Infidelity
• Frequent arguments with poor conflict resolution
• Physical or emotional abuse
• Intense jealousy
• Ambivalence about continuing the relationship
• Inability to leave a dysfunctional relationship
• Codependency

How We Help:

Often, clients enter couples therapy expressing similar feelings of frustration, resentment, and emotional pain. Both feel unheard, discounted, and invalidated by their partner, as defensiveness seemingly becomes an automatic reflex. Couples therapy helps to explore and resolve deeper issues that are affecting the marital bond. Couples learn how to communicate and validate one another while finding compromise and flexibility in their relationship and with other vital family dynamics like consistent parenting. Couples learn to close the emotional gap separating them by soothing one another when conflict arises vs. becoming more entrenched in feelings of indignation. We help couples practice adaptive ways to disengage from conflict and identify what they really want and need in the moment.

Many times, each partner’s needs, wants, and ultimate goals are similar, especially when conflict has to do with parenting. Parents both want the best for their children yet their differing parental methods can create martial stress. Problems arise when parenting approaches begin to polarize, causing a rift in marital unity. It takes time for healthy, vibrant relationships to shift and take on a more tepid and banal feel, so couples work is definitely more of a healing process rather than a search for a specific relational solution. Our belief is, if you are reading this page then you have taken the first step in healing, and we are here to help you accomplish that goal.

Problem:

It is common for adults to experience fluctuations in their moods. Across time, and even within a single day, people experience a range of positive and negative emotions. Sadness, for example, is a perfectly appropriate emotion when an individual faces a loss such as the death of a parent, going through a divorce, or losing a job. Typically, adults are able to bounce back from these challenges and move forward with their lives as they heal and adjust to their new life circumstances.

However, when “the blues” are so significant that they cause major and sustained impairment in one’s life, we are likely dealing with depression. Depression can be episodic, coming in waves or bouts that can last for weeks or months, or it can be persistent and linger for years. Sometimes depression is the result of some major event that occurred in a person’s life, and other times it’s not as easy to pinpoint the particular trigger or cause. The good news is that depression is treatable, and people with depression can recover and resume happy and fulfilling lives.

Symptoms:

• Persistent sadness or tearfulness
• Lack of motivation
• Inability to have fun and enjoy the things you used to enjoy
• Loss of appetite and weight loss, or the opposite of overeating and weight gain
• Inability to sleep, or the opposite of feeling like you want to stay in bed all day
• Having much less energy than you typically do
• Inability to think as clearly or make decisions as easily
• Thoughts of being better off dead or wanting to end your own life

How We Help:

We understand how painful and debilitating depression can be which is why we work quickly and diligently to help our clients think, feel, and live better. We achieve this by helping clients: gain new insight regarding the distorted thinking that is negatively impacting their mood; develop new preventative coping strategies clients can employ to reduce/avoid future depressive episodes; and focus on resolving the source or underlying causes of their depression. Depression acts as a distorted "lens" which we see ourselves and our worlds through. This lens, which was once clear and an accurate representation of our lives can become dark, opaque, and foreboding. As a result, thoughts become pessimistic, feelings of sadness and fear become more prominent, and behavior of withdrawal and avoidance reinforces negative thoughts and feelings. Through the use of effective and research proven therapies, we are able to help our clients regain a clear and realistic thought process, feel a stronger sense of well being, and enjoy their lives which they so richly deserve.

Problem:

For most people, adapting to change is a challenge. We get comfortable in our routines and we can often feel disoriented and confused when our routines are shifted. However, life is inevitably full of change and we have to be able to cope somehow in order to be productive and successful adults in this fast-paced world we live in. Sometimes change is expected and beneficial (i.e. being promoted at work, getting married, having your first child, or going to college). Other times change is unexpected and very painful (i.e. the death of a loved one, losing a job, or going through a divorce). Either way, these changes can have a negative impact on your mood and may leave you wondering if you can function effectively in your new role.

Symptoms:

• Increased stress and anxiety
• Heightened sense of fear
• Feelings of depression
• Inability to follow through with responsibilities
• Poor use of healthy coping skills and increased engagement with destructive behaviors

How We Help:

Talk therapy with a caring and compassionate professional therapist can be very helpful during periods of life transitions. We provide a deep sense of understanding and empathy as we help you gain greater insight and adjust to life’s changes. We strive to increase your positive coping skills and self-care so that you are able to adapt in a healthy and constructive way. We focus on helping you achieve a succession of small goals so that you can build your sense of confidence and adopt an "I can do this!" attitude. We also utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in order to identify any underlying fears that may be leading to negative and distorted thoughts, which ultimately leave you feeling stuck and unable to proceed.

Problem:

Typically, intermittent anxiety comes and goes based on heightened life demands. Christmas, tax season, and back to school for the kids are usually rather hectic times of the year causing a heightened feeling of anxiety. We are usually able to move through these difficult times and resume our previous lives with little disruption. Anxious people experience daily thoughts of worry and feelings of fear that impact school, work, interpersonal, emotional, and social functioning. Some have a feeling of general uneasiness; others experience severe fear or panic that can come unexpectedly; while others fear and avoid specific things, places, or situations. At the heart of anxiety you will find future oriented feared “what if” scenarios that end with loss, hardship, and catastrophe. The mind becomes overactive and thoughts seem to be uncontrollable, affecting sleep, mood, and self-soothing.

Symptoms:

• Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
• Feeling fatigued
• Irritability
• Difficulty concentrating or having your mind go blank
• Muscle tension
• Frequent headache
• Restlessness or feeling wound-up
• Difficulty controlling worry
• Need to have things perfect or “just right”
• Feeling of panic
• Fear of feelings of panic
• Avoidance of places where panic has occurred
• Fear of being rejected, publicly embarrassed, or judged
• Higher anxiety in social settings

How We Help:

Because anxiety is a problem of an overactive mind that assumes negative future outcomes, we help our clients refocus their thoughts and feelings on today; the present. Our philosophy is "live by what you know not what you fear." This helps our adult client’s ground themselves in the reality of past experiences that did not end with great loss or horrible catastrophe. Clients will learn to identify negative distorted thoughts that cause their fear as well as develop healthy coping skills that promote self-confidence, inner-peace, and a "quiet mind". Practical, effective, and proven therapeutic approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness training, and Exposure Therapy, help our client’s think, feel, and live better.