Restorative Therapy Services
Behavioral sleep medicine and couple therapy comprise the perfect elements of a practice that, for me, is both grounding and charged.
Behavioral Sleep Medicine
I am a sleep nerd! Sleep fascinates me. I hope to learn about this biopsychosocial phenomenon for the rest of my life. Behavioral sleep medicine was my main area of research in graduate school, and I was trained early and extensively in the art and science of assessment and behavioral treatment of insomnia and other sleep disorders. Sharing my knowledge with others, whether patients seeking to optimize sleep-wake functioning or physicians seeking to better assist their own patients with this functioning, is a passion and one of the most rewarding aspects of my career.
Couple Therapy
My approach to facilitating a process for reconnecting is integrative but heavily reliant upon emotion-focused therapy and its derivative, emotionally-focused therapy . Too often the messaging we receive about emotions is neither accurate nor positive. Emotions are an adaptive system inside of us to help us survive and thrive. My work with couples helps them tune in to core emotions and learn how to use them, share them, and let them inform the conversation.
Two related truths I have learned in my life as a therapist:
1. We are narrative creatures. We make meaning of events in our lives and, in so doing, write our stories.
2. Words matter.
No wonder, then, that psychotherapy is effective. From a practical side, the scientist in me loves couple therapy because the problem–the negative cycles at play between couples–is in the room with me, to observe and directly assess throughout treatment. Psychologists are not always afforded direct observation of the problem in our role as therapists, but couple therapists are, which is a powerful tool in wielding change. Most of all, though, it’s my humanity, my capacity for awe (my romantic side?), that primarily drives my passion for the work. Sue Johnson’s statement, “The ‘best you can be’ is possible when you are deeply connected to another” is both scientifically supported (we are social creatures too) and experientially reinforced daily for me in my work with couples. Helping partners touch vulnerable emotions and bravely share them to reconnect with each other–supporting them as they write or rewrite their love stories–is one of the greatest honors and gifts of my lifetime.
