Some Areas Where I Can Help You Shift From Painful Conditions to Being More Fully Alive:

Anxiety – whether it is low level or extreme anxiety, there are ways to uncover the source(s) of that anxiety and deal with the root causes.

Shame and guilt – Many people struggle with feeling unworthy, defective, flawed. In fact shame is a universal human emotion that can keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns that block us from being fully alive. Find out where shame originates, how to resolve shame as a new way of doing life 

Trauma – We all have experienced trauma, whether big event trauma or the little places where we have felt overwhelmed, but learned to rationalize it away. Nevertheless he body and the brain are adversely affected by trauma. Studies show that 87% of physical ailments have a trauma related component. An expert on trauma, doctor Gabor Mate, has stated that all addictions are rooted in traumatic conditions from earlier in our lives. 

Stress related conditions – stress is epidemic. Almost all physical illness has a stress component to it.  

Sadness and mood struggles, including depression – a complex condition that requires thoughtful and compassionate attention. If you have struggled with depression, as I have, you know how debilitating it can be. To become more fully alive takes time to learn how to be kind to and accepting of yourself. 

Dealing with abusive relationships – abuse can be severe and event related, as with an assault, or it can be less severe and ongoing for a long time. Either way being abused opens pathways in our brains that lead to many struggles in life.

Restoring healthy self worth and self esteem – our identity is shaped by relationships with those we love and those who love us – for good and for bad. Learning how to process the ways that our identity was shaped in our past so that we can have a revitalized sense of our inherent worth and value – that is life changing.

Arguing and conflicts, sometimes called communication problems – It’s hard being in relationship where you don’t feel like the other person is on your side. Rather than focus solely on communication skills, it’s important to understand why it’s so easy to feel alienated from the person(s) that you are close to, and deal with that part of your story.

Dealing with past hurts – someone has said that we all have hurts in our past, but we don’t always have the resources to handle them, so we put them away. That leaves a more serene story, but there is another story that needs to be told for us to become more fully alive. I’ll help you identify those hidden stories and learn to handle them in new ways so that they no longer have the power to hold you back.

Anger – problems with out of control anger or outbursts of anger, or smoldering anger? Learn about the good kind of anger and the unhealthy, life stealing kind of anger and how to root out the causes of that toxic anger so that you can feel more free and alive.

Infidelity – this kind of betrayal is so severe that it rocks people’s worlds. Yet there are ways to work through the feelings of betrayal and the shame of committing infidelity that can lead to restored and improved relationship. How do you become fully alive again when it feels like something in you died? Hard question, but there are paths back to living again.

Teetering on the brink of divorce? One of the scariest, most stressful places to be. There is hope, as long as both partners are willing to look at (and change) what they are bringing to the relationship.

Adoption issues, including parenting children who have a history of trauma, struggle with attachment, struggle with behavior issues, or are difficult to form bonds with.

Attachment issues – growing up without feeling securely attached to one’s primary care givers can lead to various coping mechanisms that make it hard to have strong, healthy emotional connections, or lead to anxiety or shutting down of relational intimacy. Healthy attachment can be restored.

Codependence – the desire to stay with someone who is abusing you; where does this come from and what has to happen so that you are free to be your true self – be more fully alive.

Attention Deficit – one of the most over diagnosed conditions; how to handle it as a child, as a parent, as an adult. And what to understand about what the real issues may be.

Parenting challenges – resolving parental conflict about how to parent so children can receive what they need to flourish and develop healthy relationships with themselves and others. Both parents were raised with different parenting styles and values. We adopt those styles unconsciously and without question. When parents fight about how to parent, everyone loses. How do you get on the same page and parent so that your children feel safe, secure, seen, heard and understood?

Pre-marital counseling – using the Prepare – Enrich inventory to affirm your relationship strengths and point out work areas in eight key measures of relationship. Exercises help strengthen those work areas.

Addictions – (any behavior that you find yourself unable to stop). All addictions have roots in trauma from our past. There is no addiction gene, according to leading trauma specialist, Dr. Gabor Mate.