Therapy Services

I provide individual, couples, and family therapy with a focus on a variety of concerns such as relationship dynamics, codependency, cognitive distortions, self-esteem, communication, conflict management/resolution, healthy relating, assertiveness skills training, strengthening emotional connections.

Because children have unique needs, individual child therapy requires very specialized training (such as training in play therapy). Due to their unique needs, I focus on clients age 16 and up. My training does, however, include family dynamics - meaning the family as a unit, which includes children.

  Court-Ordered Parenting Coordination is a non-adversarial dispute resolution process that is court ordered or agreed upon by divorced and separated parents who have an ongoing pattern of high conflict and/or litigation about their children.

The underlying principle of the Parenting Coordination intervention is a continuous focus on children's best interests by the Parenting Coordinator in working with high conflict parents and in decision-making. 

Parenting Coordination is designed to help parents implement and comply with court orders or parenting plans, to make timely decisions in a manner consistent with children's developmental and psychological needs, to reduce the amount of damaging conflict between caretaking adults to which children are exposed, and to diminish the pattern of unnecessary re-litigation about child­ related issues. 

Parents who share children but are no longer together can sometimes find themselves experiencing frequent conflict when co-parenting. Co-parenting Counseling helps parents set healthy boundaries resolve conflict. Skills are taught to assist parents in not delving into the past, arguing about the present, and avoiding future conflicts. Parents are given the opportunity to learn how to put their differences aside, focus communication strictly on co-parenting, and enjoy their relationship with their children. 

Co-parenting counseling is not couples counseling. The goal is to help parents learn new skills that will allow them to co-parent in a way that benefits their children by truly putting them first.

Codependency refers to an imbalance in relationships where one person assumes responsibility for meeting another person’s needs or wants to the exclusion of their own needs, wants, or feelings. They often feel like they have lost themselves and don't know who they are anymore. 

Codependency can develop in all sorts of relationships, such as parent/child,  spouse/spouse, partner/partner, or even coworker/boss. 

People struggling with codependency often feel overwhelmed, exhausted, resentful, depressed, and anxious usually because they are doing too much for others, giving to others too much, taking care of others too much, and making sure everyone else is happy and content. 

The state of Iowa requires that all parents seeking divorce or custody modification attend this class. The information provided in this class is taken from evidence-based research and studies conducted with real families. It has been tested and proven successful by professionals in the field. 

The reason for this class is to help parents avoid putting their children in the middle of adult situations. Children who are put in the middle are at a greater risk of experiencing mental and emotional struggles. It is the parent's responsibility to minimize these risks as much as possible. This class provides parents with relevant information necessary to to help them protect their children. 

Therapy isn’t about providing a quick fix; it’s about working through your problems to find effective, long-term solutions. Depression, anxiety, and stress are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that many of us experience at some point in our lives. Through counseling, you can find resources to recover perspective, motivation, and joy, as well as assistance with increasing self-awareness, gaining mastery over your thoughts and behavior, learning coping skills and tools, and implementing helpful strategies to help you attain a more secure, satisfying and meaningful life.  

A person with an addiction uses a substances or certain behaviors (or outlets), for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to repeat the activity, despite negative consequences. 

Addiction may involve the use of substances such as alcohol, opioids, or marijuana, or behaviors such as pornography or gambling. 

Classic hallmarks of addiction include the abuse of substances or certain behaviors, impaired control over substances or behavior, preoccupation with substances or behavior, and continued use despite negative consequences resulting from the use or behavior.

Addiction is a pervasive condition with an impact that reaches far beyond the addicted person. Family members of an addicted person are especially vulnerable to experiencing the same consequences as the addicted person due to the mental, physical, relational, and social effects of addiction. 

These effects even extend to family members that have never used a drug or consumed a sip of alcohol.

The destructive impact that addiction has on the family is clearly visible in its ability to undermine the stability and unity of the family while it leaves members feeling afraid, angry, sad, anxious, ashamed, confused, lonely and guilty. 

Since 1956, the American Medical Association has recognized Substance Use Disorder (addiction) as a DISEASE. Addiction is difficult to understand because it doesn't "look" like other diseases. Most people have some concept about what addiction is, but it is, for the most part, largely misunderstood by most people. 

Addiction is a complex disease with many factors. This disease does not respond to common, seemingly logical remedies such as, "just quit." That simply doesn't work when someone has an addiction.

The best was to learn more about addiction is to do your research and take my class. My expertise in the field of addiction will help you make sense of it and provide you with relevant information so you can understand this disease.

I also provide Substance Use Assessments. If you think you might have an alcohol or drug problem, or are worried that someone you love might, a substance use assessment will provide you with the answers you need.

(Substance abuse education or assessments are not covered by insurance.)