As a Marriage & Family Therapist
I see couples: Married Partners Cohabitating Separated
Engaged Divorcing Dating Divorced
I see Individuals: Adults (Not teens, children, non-emancipated adults.)
Families: Immediate family Extended family
Partial family Newly combined families
As a Marriage & Family Therapist or Individual or Couple's therapist I work with individuals, families and couples. With over 33 years as a therapist and counselor, I have considerable experience working with couples and families regarding marriage, divorce, affairs, communication issues, parenting, blending and combining families, issues arising from various family stage transitions and emotional, physical and psychological conditions including substance abuse, anger management issues, depression and anxiety.
I work with all couples with all orientations. I have experience working with polyamorous couples and groups / families and with couples where one person discovers their partner is bi-sexual or gay.
I have extensive experience working with people who are in, leaving or were previously in an abusive relationship. I have specialty experience working with people who have been in relationships with people with personality disorders.
YOU set the goals. YOU define what you want out of therapy.
As a therapist, I focus on making sure I have a comprehensive understanding of your unique experience and situation, being emotionally supportive and attentive. I
look from different angles to try to see what you might not see about the situation, helping you find and accomplish the path or solution you seek.
I will present alternative perspectives and we will look inside and outside of the box.
Where you are and where you want to go and what you want to accomplish for yourself is the primary guide that we use to direct our work together.
Therapy is based in the roots of where you have been, what happened, how it affected you and your current functioning in life, relationships and in self-management. Therapy addresses the emotional recovery process and how you proceed from where you are and how to best resolve, manage, accept, balance or address what may include a biologically influenced condition like anxiety, depression, ADHD and PTSD, as examples.
I do not work with people who have been diagnosed with personality disorders. I do not work with people after I diagnose them with a personality disorder.
I do not have the training to work with gender dysphoria or fetishes.
I do not do assessments for diagnosis. I do therapy and during therapy a diagnosis is defined.
I do FMLA paperwork for current clients already in therapy. I do not do FMLA paperwork for non-clients or clients initiating therapy to get the FLMA paperwork done.
I previously taught both Advanced Family Therapy and Advanced Marriage Therapy at the graduate level, and Psychology and Developmental Psychology at the Undergraduate level.
What are the differences between a
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist/ LMFT, and a
Licensed Mental Health Counselor/ LMHC?
As explained in the RCWs of the Washington State, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists have training in addition to the training and education of Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Both utilize and apply the principles of human development, learning theory, psychotherapy, origins of mental and emotional distress or unproductive behavior to individuals, couples and families. Both include the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders. Marriage and Family Therapists, also utilize a variety of theories and treatment strategies, including cognitive, affective, dialectic or behavioral, to assess and resolve the impact of mental and emotional distress or disorders, various forms of abuse, substance use and life events within the context of a client's relationships.
By utilizing psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques along with mental health development theories, clients learn the origin and impacts of their relationships, life events and mental or emotional distress. Clients learn ways to resolve symptoms, feelings, thoughts and behavior patterns that are ineffective or problematic, adopt more productive ways of coping with or responding to symptoms, people or events so that their lives and relationships are more fulfilling and less negatively impacted by the events, relationships or symptoms that brought them to therapy.
The American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy :
"Marriage and family therapists are mental health professionals with a minimum of a master’s degree and two years supervised clinical experience. Marriage and family therapists (commonly referred to as MFTs or family therapists) are trained and licensed to independently diagnose and treat mental health and substance abuse problems. Marriage and family therapy is one of the core mental health disciplines and is based on the research and theory that mental illness and family problems are best treated in a family context. Trained in psychotherapy and family systems, marriage and family therapists focus on understanding their clients’ symptoms and interaction patterns within their existing environment. MFTs treat predominantly individuals, but also provide couples, family and group therapy. Whomever the client, Family Therapists treat from a relationship perspective that incorporates family systems. "
I am in private practice and consult with other Life & Relationship Coaches, Mediators, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Substance Abuse Professionals, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, ARNP's and lawyers when necessary to make sure I provide you with high quality services.
My staff and I have a primary mission of maintaining your confidentiality and providing you with professional and respectful services.