"How different it is to be with a nurturing family. Immediately I sense the aliveness, the genuineness, honesty and love. I feel the heart and soul present as well as the head." ~Virginia Satir

The family is the foundation of the individual. It will influence him or her for the rest of their lives. Patterns learned within the family will be passed down from generation to generation. Some patterns are meant to be broken. Family Therapy teaches a family how to develop healthy patterns of interaction. Learning how to respect, honor and value each person for their individuality is essential for healthy patterns to form. Each individual is respected for his or her uniqueness and contribution to the family unit.

At the same time there are foundational ways that a family works that each person must agree to. They may be how to resolve conflict, how to honor the truth, take responsibility for protecting one another, show loyalty, how to help one another in challenging times. The family needs ways to stay unified.

Family Therapy addresses these issues and strives to create long lasting ties that bend and adapt throughout the life of all the members.

"Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field----I'll meet you there" ~Rumi

When one true self speaks to another, using the language of the heart, in that bond a person is healed. Love heals and love helps us grow. Love is the most amazing adventure two people can create together or the biggest disaster. The success of this adventure depends on the skill level of the individuals involved.

In any intimate relationship—be it a marriage or a long term committed partnership,  the way two individuals co-create their interaction and life together determines the fulfillment each person experiences with one another. This co-creation is developed by using certain skills and by having certain attitudes built into the structure of the bond. Compassion, understanding, empathy, loving kindness, forgiveness, positive support, validation, appreciation and gratitude to name a few are the qualities that create stability and safe structure. These are the qualities that make up the language of intimacy. Incorporating these qualities into the way we share and communicate with one another is what marital and couples counseling is about. It is true that we may have learned pattern from our childhood that we have brought to our relationship that hinders our bond. Couples counseling helps each individual become aware of these patterns and teaches new more effective ways to interact and communicate.

Relationship counseling is about creating partnership and at the same time keeping passionate and alive interactions. Relationship counseling is about growing in intimacy and at the same time growing as two autonomous people supporting each other to be the best they can be and to fulfill the life's purpose of the relationship and as individuals desire.

Our minds are incredibly powerful. We put the power of our mind to work when we learn to master our attitudes, to set our intention and to work with skill to process and direct our consciousness. Through practice and discipline we can learn to direct our mind, emotions and actions in positive and peaceful ways. Hypnotherapy and meditation techniques can be used to facilitate our growth and development.

Meditation is mind training. Through the practice of meditation one can learn to be mindful. Being mindful means to learn to know how our mind and emotions work. The practice of mindfulness meditation is developing the neutrality and objectivity to observe our inner self without judgment. To find a place within to see with loving kindness and compassion all that lives within is to practice mindfulness. Transformation comes through this kind of acceptance of ourselves and through the awareness it brings. Knowledge is power and opens the gate to making healthier choices.

Hypnotherapy is a tool used to support our intentions and desire to change some aspect of the self. Hypnotherapy can be used to change behavior patterns, release self-defeating attitudes and replace our thoughts with thoughts that support our well-being. Hypnotherapy can also be used to learn to relax increase self esteem, and self confidence and to connect on a deeper level to our intuition and our authentic self. It can also be used as an aid to open up our consciousness and allow ourselves to become more aware of processes that are underneath the level of consciousness

"We can not rise higher than our thoughts of ourselves" ~Orison

Each of us has aspects of ourselves we define as good and those we define as bad. The parts of ourselves that we continually reject want to be acknowledges and loved. These aspects present issues for us and also obstacles to our well-being if we fail to listen. These characteristics become the judgments we hold on to about who we are. They block our true essence and cause us to suffer. These aspects are the parts of ourselves that offer the richest learning experiences about life and us.

Individual Psychotherapy helps us to see those issues and obstacles. Therapy uses these problems as ways to explore and heal the past, to transform the emotional and mental patterns that do not serve us and to learn a healthier way to be and to see our life.

 We become more accepting and compassionate about who we are and this also allows us to do the same with others. The goal of therapy is to help the individual truly know themselves and to operate in the world in an authentic and positive way. Each one of us deserves to have the best life we can possibly have. This begins by creating the best relationship with ourselves we can possibly manifest.

Individual Psychotherapy is about honoring and valuing the self and all the experiences we have had—both positive and negative. It is about learning skills to master the self and to use all through our life time to make our lives rewarding, meaningful and joyful.

"There is no freedom like seeing myself as I am and not losing heart" ~Canhan