I have extensive training and experience working with the following issues:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Anger Management

• Postpartum Mood Disorder

• Mood & Personality Disorders

• Dysfunctional Relationships

• Family Conflict

• Trauma

• Sexuality Concerns

• LGBTQ Issues

• Family Members of Substance Abusers

• Victims of Child/Sexual Abuse

When becoming pregnant does not happen easily, many women and couples enter the difficult world of intrusive medical procedures and an emotional onslaught of depression, anxiety, anger, despair and envy. Through my personal and professional experience over several decades, I have been able to develop a safe and supportive therapeutic environment to help those struggling with this life crisis.

We can address:

•  Coping effectively with failed cycles

•  Deciding how far to pursue medical treatment

•  Maintaining your relationship with your partner

•  Other options for building a family (donor gametes, surrogacy, adoption, child-free living)

•  Living in the fertile world (coping with friends and family)

Parenting through adoption is lifelong and the accompanying joys and challenges continue long after your child joins your family. As a parent through both biology and adoption, as well as a frequent lecturer in the field of adoption, I have extensive experience working with adults exploring this option in building a family.

Aside from navigating the numerous choices (domestic vs. foreign, open vs. closed, agency vs. private), counseling will focus on the myriad of emotions of both the adoptive parents and the future child.

These issues include:

• Grieving the absence of pregnancy

• Grieving the imagined biological child

• Feelings about the birth parent(s)

• Possible emotional issues and/ or developmental delays

• Differences in race/ethnicity

• Sharing information with family and friends

• Talking to your child about adoption

Unfortunately, not all hard-won pregnancies result in full-term healthy births, despite the skilled care of physicians and the hyper-vigilance of a healthy pregnant woman. Loss of a planned-for baby can be devastating and traumatic for all involved. Yet, few know how to respond and there are no established rituals for grieving and mourning. I have run many groups for women who have miscarried and also helped those parents who have held their babies in their arms for all too brief a time.

There is no timeline for grief, and no predictable pattern of recovery. Therapy can validate feelings, while providing an environment to work through painful emotions without avoiding, ignoring, minimizing or denying them.

We can address:

• Processing medical trauma

• Grieving the imagined life

• Different styles of grieving between partners

• Sharing information with family and friends

• Anxiety of future pregnancies

• Counseling though subsequent pregnancies

Our relationship with our partner typically faces and endures more stress than any of our adult relationships.  When our partnership is solid, we can more easily handle most crises, whether they involve: family, children, work, finances, illness, loss and even death.  When we  have conflict with our significant other, however, life becomes much more difficult and, often, unmanageable.  The repercussions can be widespread. Seeing a highly trained and experienced couple’s therapist is an important step in assessing and improving the health of your union.

As a couple’s therapist, I:

• Do a thorough assessment of your relationship

• Delve into the personal and family history of each partner

• Look at your patterns of relating, supporting one another, arguing, problem solving, parenting, making love and managing money

• Try to explore how each individual functions as a separate individual

• Assess power and decision-making in the couple

• Explore and understand ineffective “scripts”

• Help develop new, healthier ways of relating

• Determine what may cause, maintain, or escalate conflict

• Assess issues of insecurity and jealousy

Sometimes, jealousy can be insidious in a relationship and may reflect one’s own insecurities and need for control.   At other times, the reality of past or present incidents of infidelity can be the crisis which leads to couple’s work.  Therapy allows a safe place to process the affair, along with the messy feelings of anger, grief, shame and mistrust which can be part of the aftermath of infidelity.

Admittedly, there are those relationships which may no longer be able to endure, despite the investment in therapy.  Couple’s counseling can also function to ensure a break-up where both members are heard and able to part ways without inflicting more damage on each other and on family members.

A skilled therapist does not function as a referee who sides with one partner or another.  Neither is a therapist a judge, deciding on who is right and who is wrong.  As your therapist, I will work to support you as a couple and help you arrive at the best decision concerning the future of your relationship.  This is not easy work and cannot be accomplished in a few sessions.  Yet, the payoff of a healthier partnership can be life-long.

No one escapes this life without experiencing loss and the accompanying grief.

One may lose:

• A loved one

• A cherished pet

• Relationships

• Precious property

• Work

• Abilities tied to identity

Yet, while experiencing loss, the world goes on and rarely waits for you to heal or recover. Grief has no timeline and does not always subside in a linear fashion. Years later, triggers can reactivate strong emotions. Therapy can be a safe place to bring your pain, especially when others may not be available to listen and comfort.

We can explore:

• The history of your relationship

• How the loss impacts your life

• How to move forward while honoring your grief.

With extensive experience working with the bereaved, taking courses on loss, and possessing a significant library of resources in this field, I am comfortable helping you find a way to not have grief and loss be the centerpiece of your life.