Family Therapy in Santa Barbara, CA

I am trained in Family Therapy and although not always the case, therapy often moves faster when you are willing to include other family members as a part of therapy at some point. It helps me understand you in the broader context of the people that are important to you or have influence in your life. I have been married for 34 years and have three adult children so my personal experience often informs me, along with my training and the expertise I have gathered being a part of The Family Therapy Institute.

I believe the therapeutic process is a collaborative way to discover healthy coping mechanisms, reduce stress, and increase personal happiness and well-being. Confidentiality, respect, and compassion are inherent to my process. I have over a decade of experience treating adolescents, adult individuals, couples & families. By integrating various therapeutic approaches such as Strength’s-Based Strategic, Solution-Focused & Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I am able to provide well-rounded, evidence-based support to promote positive change.

People tend to find me at some point on their journey when they need calm and direct guidance. They are usually in a time of deep pain and confusion, whether they are transitioning in life, divorcing, watching their teens struggle, feeling utterly depressed and lost, struggling in relationships or just wanting more out of their lives.

Welcome! As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I am committed to supporting individuals and couples on their journey towards healing, growth, and fulfillment. My practice is dedicated to the idea that the human spirit prevails in the midst of our deepest sufferings. As human beings, we all possess the innate capacity, courage, and wisdom to overcome adversities in life. With a compassionate and nonjudgmental approach, I provide a safe space for clients to realize their own potentials and empower them to prevail over obstacles, cultivate resilience, and live authentically.

If you are reading this, you have already begun the journey toward healing and self-discovery! My goal is to support your growth towards the person you desire to be, heal hurts from the past, and find peace in a sometimes chaotic and stress-filled world. I strive to make a safe space to listen and provide you with gentle guidance, professional interventions that may contribute to wellness, and empathy in a non-judgmental and supportive manner. Life is so short, aren't you worth the journey towards wellness and happiness?! I believe you are!

New clients welcome! Addiction is more than just a struggle with substances; it is a profound battle that affects every aspect of an individual's life. It can sever relationships, destroy careers, and lead to severe health problems. The emotional and financial toll can also be devastating, creating a cycle of pain that feels impossible to break. I have more than 10 years of experience helping individuals navigate issues related to addiction, dual diagnosis, co-dependency, family conflict, and emotional difficulties. Together, we will identify your strengths and provide new skills and resources to help get your life back on track.

If you are facing a difficult transition in your relationship, depression, addiction, trauma, or simply wanting to increase your life's potential, contact me with questions concerning psychotherapy. Addressing the presenting problem, we will identify past memories, present behavior and emotions, and their impact on living a creative life. By engaging your imagination, we gain access to your hidden potential, hindered by negative belief patterns. Together we will transform your life's most difficult challenges and develop the courage to create opportunities to live more passionately.

My clients are high-functioning adolescents and adults who outwardly look like they have it all together but don't always feel that way. Some live up to other people’s expectations but not their own. Others grew up in a chaotic household with secrets and work hard to keep up appearances. I believe that it is a radical act to feel whole and centered in oneself while living an authentic life. Our personal history does not have to determine our future. It is possible to choose growth, find meaning in painful experiences, reclaim injured parts of ourselves, reawaken intuition and creativity, and be who we always were meant to be.

Are you struggling with challenges that are holding you back from reaching your full potential? I am here to provide support and help you overcome both internal and external obstacles. My role is to assist you in identifying the essential resources you need to live your best life. Whether it's increasing self-awareness, enhancing communication skills, breaking unhealthy habits, or promoting greater personal responsibility, I am here to help you achieve your goals. I have extensive experience in therapy, coaching, and consulting with individuals, couples, and organizations.

Life is challenging. We are expected to manage relationships, work, sickness, finances, and other stresses. Many of us come to experience significant anxiety, shame, anger, or depression in coping with the world. Whether you are facing an immediate crisis or longstanding concern, psychotherapy can help. With over 25 years of experience, I have assisted people in developing more effective ways of living. My therapeutic approach is informed by current neuroscience research, contemporary relational psychoanalytic thinking, phenomenology, and child development research.

During these difficult times, how would your life be different if you had someone to speak with about the issues that you are struggling with NOW? What if you could have an intimate, stimulating and long-lasting love affair with your partner? Could you imagine yourself, your partner or a family member learning how to take responsibility for thinking, feeling and behaviors so that life was satisfying and successful rather than stressful and disorganized? Well...that is possible.

Are you feeling defeated in your life? Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, family and relationship issues? With over 22 years of experience, I offer a blend of cognitive-behavioral therapy and mind-body modalities to help you feel more empowered in your life. Together, we unwind the beliefs you hold onto that keep you stuck and limited. This allows you to make new choices in all areas of your life, enabling a state of peace, calm, and fulfillment. When you are no longer held back by a limited point of view, you are more flexible, open, and able to make positive changes.

100% Online telehealth. Are you longing for clarity and ease? Most of our psychological pain and suffering, our inhibitions and limitations in achieving a satisfying life, are the result of primitive anxieties that we have carried within ourselves since the very time we were, indeed, really helpless. Through our work together, you'll learn the tools to understand the meaning underneath your emotions and move beyond feeling stuck and overwhelmed. Using both talk therapy and somatic (body-based) tools, our time together will be a place for you to heal, grow, and explore your inner world in a compassionate and non-judgmental space.

I aim to help my clients identify the obstacles standing in the way of living a more full and meaningful life that is in line with their deepest values. I team up with my clients to address a range of issues that might be keeping them stuck, including eating and body image concerns, anxiety, perfectionism, and shame. I also accompany people navigating life transitions and identity exploration, and I enjoy supporting and guiding parents and partners of folks with eating disorders in caring for their loved one and themselves. Lastly, I specialize in treating athletes with eating disorders and other mental health concerns.

In-person and telehealth available. I am passionate about helping people heal themselves. It is common to experience anxiety, depression, stress or relationship issues and having someone to support and guide you on your life journey can make a positive change. I am genuine, compassionate, nonjudgemental and will meet you where you are. I especially enjoy working with adults through the life cycle, and supporting them through transitions such as young adulthood, relationships, parenting, mid-life and older age. I also specialize with individuals and families with children on the Autism spectrum, learning disabilities and ADHD.

I have 30 years of experience working in the field of mental health. For the past 20 years I have focused specifically on helping children, teens and parents better understand the gifts and needs of differently wired people. I seek to understand a person's sensory needs, social emotional needs and relating style. This discovery process attunes families to their children, whether young or grown. it provides older children, teens and adults a better appreciation of their gifts and insight into past struggles. And most importantly, it points to a way forward in life

Finding the right therapist is important. I approach therapy in a warm and relational way, and believe confidentiality and non-judgmental responses are crucial to creating a safe and trusting space. I know it can be hard to open up and start the process, so I make sure my client's feel comfortable to talk about the hard things and share about themselves authentically. Many of the situations I help people with involve experiencing depression or anxiety, processing recent or past trauma, important life or identity transitions, adolescent struggles, relationship concerns, and wanting personal growth and healing.

If you grew up in a dysfunctional family system with abusive family members and dynamics it is inevitable that the unaddressed trauma is going to show up in your relationships, career, family life and your own self-concept. You’re here because you’re struggling with anxiety, low self-esteem, codependency, shame and guilt, people-pleasing and perfectionism. I help adults with childhood and adolescent trauma process their past, gain awareness, and reconnect with themselves.

-- I Provide Telephone Therapy & Videoconference Sessions -- I work best with motivated adults who are committed to working on clearly identified psychological and relationship problems. My clients have tried to solve issues on their own but eventually recognize a need for professional assistance. They realize that therapists have no magical quick cures and that treatment takes courage, persistence and risk-taking. My clients learn that seeking help is a strength, not a weakness. They develop trust in the therapeutic relationship and make lasting gains. I honor each one.