Psychotherapy Practice

I see psychotherapy as a fascinating and courageous journey and one from which anyone can benefit. When you enter psychotherapy, you engage in a unique relationship with a trained professional whose only job is to help you do the work you came there to do. Often people find the prospect of therapy a little scary, and for good reason. When people engage in therapy they examine deeply held assumptions and beliefs and sometimes choose to make profound changes as a result of what they learn. However, the important word here is choose.

The goal of therapy is not to make you change in ways you don’t want to. Rather, the goal is to raise your awareness about who you are, what your life is all about, and what options you have about how you relate to yourself and the world. And the goal is about change. If you see no need to change, then there’s no need to go to therapy. However, sometimes the most significant change we can make is, at last, to accept our situations and ourselves just as they are— that is, you decide that no change has to happen. Either way, the therapy experience calls for very active work both on your part and on mine. In order for this process to be most successful, you will want to work on things we talk about both during our sessions and between visits.

I have been in practice as a clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist for more than 50 years and have both agency and private practice experience. I provide individual therapy and couple therapy. I also provide a service called Discernment Counseling for those couples who are considering divorce or separation but have not decided that this is the right path for them. My areas of expertise include depression and anxiety, family of origin exploration, relationship conflicts, co‐dependency, divorce and blended families, and spiritual questions. My clients are both heterosexual and gay and lesbian individuals and couples. In addition, many of my clients are people for whom religion or spirituality are important dimensions of their lives, both as a source of strength and as a source of challenge or conflict .

My experience of thirteen years doing individual, family and group psychotherapy and family life education at Minneapolis Jewish Family and Children's Service gives me particular familiarity and expertise with this population. In addition, my exposure to the Twin Cities Area Hmong community, though consultation with a local agency serving Hmong clients and through an in‐depth ethnographic study, gives me a good understanding of many of the concerns facing members of this ethnic group. I address issues related to ethnicity and culture with all of my clients, when it is important to them.

I have supervised and provided consultation for other practitioners and, as a faculty member of the St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work MSW Program, I taught classes on methods of psychotherapy, psychopathology, clinical supervision and research. My book, A User’s Guide to Therapy: What to Expect and How You Can Benefit describes more about the therapy process and what you can do to make the most of it. I am on the provider list of some insurance companies and many others cover my services out of network.

Learn more about:
Individual Therapy, Couple Therapy, Discernment Counseling