Services
Child
Children often lack the ability to verbally express inner conflict, so their struggles manifest as behavior problems such as defiance, anger, crying, clinginess or tantrums. Children communicate best through play, music, art, games and movement, so we use creative combinations of these mediums to help them communicate troubling thoughts and feelings. We also help parents learn to better understand their children’s language. Our work with children often requires a fair amount of family involvement and “coaching” sessions with the parents. We can explain this process further during our initial consultation.
Adolescent
The teenage years are undoubtedly the most difficult for teens and their parents alike. As adolescents struggle to navigate the road from childhood to adulthood and develop beliefs, identities and personas separate from those of their families, they may find themselves stuck in some stage of the process. Many teens feel misunderstood and isolated. More often than not, teens and parents find themselves equally frustrated by the other party’s apparent lack of understanding. We work to help teenagers overcome the difficulties inherent in this developmental stage, while also striving to reconcile any conflicts that may exist in the family as a result of this process.
We work with a variety of issues unique to adolescents, but a majority of our teenage clients arrive in therapy for the following reasons:
Fears and Worries
Stress or Exhaustion
Social Pressures
Bullying or Being Bullied
Parent-Child Conflict
Peer or Relationship Difficulties
Sadness or Depression
Eating Disorders
Poor Self-Esteem
Family changes, such as divorce, separation, or remarriage
School Problems
Defiance
Anger
Traumatic Experiences
Risk Taking
Death, Grief and Loss
Individual/Adult/Couples
Adults often come to therapy by their own free will and in response to dissatisfaction or pain in some area of their lives. Perhaps that pain has already consumed every aspect of your life. Perhaps you exert great energy to ignore it as you present a façade to the world, all the while feeling yourself deteriorate on the inside. Perhaps you have exhausted every possibility in trying to deal with a difficult situation. Maybe you just feel stagnant in your life.
Some people consider their relationship the biggest barrier to happiness. Are you wondering what happened to your relationship with your partner? Analyzing whether the relationship will ever recover or if separating has become inevitable? You don’t need to know the answer to these questions before you try couples therapy.
Whatever your personal motivation for seeking help, we will strive to develop a thorough understanding of who you are and what your goals are in coming to therapy. Our work will focus on helping you access your own internal strengths and resources, whether you believe you have them or not, in order to meet your personal goals.
Adults come into therapy with a wide range of issues, but the following are some of the most frequently addressed:
Friend or Relationship Difficulties
Sadness or Depression
Loneliness
Emptiness
Anxiety, Fears, Phobias
Grief and Loss
A Desire for Insight
Marital Problems, Infidelity and/or disconnect from partner
Sexual Orientation Issues (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender)
Poor Self-Esteem
Traumatic Experiences
Difficulty with the Aging Process
Parenting or Family Concerns/Blended Families
Family
Families lie at the root of every individual. Families typically come to therapy due to difficulty navigating an important change or transition. We do not allow a family to place blame on any individual member for disrupting the system and creating whatever problem brings the family into therapy. We work with the family as a whole to improve the life and happiness of each individual person. When an entire family is willing to engage and actively participate in therapy it often becomes one of the most rewarding and positive of all the therapeutic experiences.
Most families come in due to difficulty with one of the following transitions:
Divorce or Separation
Remarriage/Blended Families
Substance Abuse
Death, Loss, Grief
Photo taken by Doug Morrison, LACoFD Photographer
FIRST RESPONDERS and their families
The life and struggle of first responders (Firefighters, Police, Lifeguards, EMT, etc) are unique and very difficult to explain. Schedules are erratic, exposure to trauma occurs almost daily, and every missed holiday (birthday, anniversary, event) requires a fair amount of explanation. Rescuers and helpers typically don’t like asking for help, but if you or a loved one feel stuck, please know we are available and will do our best to understand. Many of our therapists have both personal and professional experience working with this unique population.