Why choose me for your couples therapy?
As mentioned in my bio box, I am a staff therapist with the Couples Institute in Menlo Park–one of the leading couples sites in the country. My interest in family systems and couples therapy goes all the way back to my earliest internship at a family therapy center prior to graduate school over 20 years ago. From almost the same time I have also been deeply influenced by the work of John Gottman, and have since been involved with Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy, Dan Wile’s work, as well as that of a number of other giants in the field.
Clients describe me as fair, empathic, steady, collaborative, grounded, and a very focused listener. One of the most frequent complaints from couples who have not had good experiences with other therapists is that the therapist let them continue their destructive negative interactions. If you as a couple are engaging in destructive or unproductive patterns, I will be firm and directive to help you build more effective skills. If you are working well with principles and skills that you are learning, or if you need more room to feel or reflect, I will pull back and give you more space to do those things.
It is one of my highest priorities to make sure you are getting the best experience possible out of therapy and I take active steps to monitor my work with you and make corrections on an ongoing basis. I work with all kinds of couples, and I especially enjoy working with premarital or early relationship couples, and with new parents (see the New Parents page) and all the stresses that they encounter
