Parenting Therapists in Santa Cruz, CA

I have been providing counseling and psychotherapy to individual adults, couples, children, teen and families in the Santa Cruz area since 1970. I love helping people discover their inner strengths and figure out how to utilize those strengths to create a better life and relationships. I see my role as a combination of coach, mentor, cheerleader and midwife. I utilize a versatile, directive approach to therapy which is informed by several theories and modalities including Family Systems, CBT, Short-term behavioral therapy, Gestalt, Strength-based and Humanistic. Much of my practice deals with achieving personal goals, relationship issues and parent /lchild issues.

Reaching out for support can be a difficult and vulnerable experience. My goal is to help you and your family find calm, connection, and joy again! My therapeutic approach is collaborative, interactive, and warm. Together we will highlight your strengths as parent , child, or teen while identifying areas that may benefit from change. I tailor treatment to your individual, child's, and/or family's needs and use a variety of therapeutic strategies customized to address underlying issues and help you and your family thrive.

Maybe NOW is the right time. Maybe I am the person. Do you need support and strategies to help you through a difficult time or address a particular problem? Let me help. It is an honor to connect with you and work together to help you overcome obstacles, adjust to transitions, and help you become the person, couple, or family that you want to become. Benefit from my 18+ years of experience, as well as my lifelong active and vital pursuit of knowledge and well-being. Compassionate, effective, intelligent and holistic. Let me help and support you in moving forward.

My work centers around helping people achieve their goals. I enjoy working with people of all ages and backgrounds and I easily connect with others and believe that through relationship building you are able to facilitate positive changes in your life. My varied experience over the past twenty years as a school counselor, parent , Therapeutic Foster Parent , Equine Assisted Psychotherapist and Challenge Course Facilitator have shaped my eclectic style of working with people. Based on your specific needs and areas of desired growth, together we will tailor a plan to best meet your needs as we move forward through the therapy.

Are your seeking a more peaceful and harmonious life?  One that can hold both the challenges and the goodness?  Therapy can help. My style is warm, empathic, and collaborative.  I use evidence-based techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness and brain science. I would like to help you tackle what is impeding you and open up new options so that you can make good decisions and create more happiness for you and your loved ones.

I support women struggling with anxiety, depression, and the myriad challenges associated with motherhood. The experience is not always what people anticipate - instead of joy there is worry, insecurity, and overwhelm. By providing perinatal and parenting -specific information, research-based techniques for symptom relief, flexible session options, and a compassionate, I help to normalize these common experiences and improve the family's sense of wellness. Our work together provides relief from suffering, harmony in relationships, and joyful attunement with children.

Do you feel a sense of disconnection in your relationships? Are you considering divorce or frustrated with your co- parenting relationship? Therapy is a place where you can take a much needed pause from the stresses you face, and explore your inner world and your relationships. I can help you identify what needs attention so you can feel better and more connected to the important people in your life.

I work with individual adult and adolescent clients to heal symptoms such as depression, anxiety, addictions, body image issues, somatic pain or illness, suicidal ideation, parent - child related difficulties, and attachment-based wounding. Through the lens of Internal Family Systems, a non-pathologizing approach to healing trauma, I help clients to align with their internal resource for healing, get to know the true meaning of their symptoms, and unburden the pain they carry. Clients report feeling greater connectedness, expanded perspective on their lives and compassion for themselves and others around them following treatment.

Being a parent is so hard. There are moments of joy, there is so much exhaustion, and there are times that honestly feel soul sucking. In these times you can feel like a hollow, empty shell going through the motions of life and parenthood. It can feel like there is a fog of stress and anxiety hanging over even the sunniest of days. It can feel so far away from what you imagined. This soul sucking feeling has a powerful message for you. Somewhere along the way you lost your connection to yourself.

As I see it, the primary role of a counselor is to serve as a mirror to help reveal what the client hasn't yet been able to see-especially those patterns of relating to self, others, and the environment that might be causing suffering. At the same time, the counselor is there to reflect, affirm, and strengthen the client's unique gifts and talents.One of the biggest impediments to healing, growth, and creativity is shame. To help clients move through this debilitating emotion, I use a combination of mindfulness, body awareness, and other healing modalities.

I feel strongly that we have the capacity to heal and thrive within the context of safe relationships. For this reason, I am passionate about offering therapeutic services to assist in exploring strengths, gifts, and complex challenges. At this time I work with adults and adolescents seeking therapy for a range of issues including relationship challenges, depression, anxiety, trauma, and parenting .

I believe that being raised in the mid-west gives my work certain down-to-earth, practical qualities that most of my clients tell me they very much appreciate. I often hear clients say "you seem to get me." Some clients need to hear themselves speak out loud in order to help resolve their issues while others need some objective, impartial reflective insight. Still others benefit from my years of counseling experience and information targeted to help with their particular problems. I offer all of these to my clients and tailor my therapeutic approach to each person's specific needs.

I believe the brain constantly seeks healing and balance. In my experience, no matter what happens to a person, the deepest parts of oneself hold wisdom and strengths. Once we accept, appreciate, and access more of what’s inside of us, we can grow into the life we want and into our unique selves. I work from a client-centered, culturally competent, and strengths-based perspective. I meet you where you are; we identify your needs, perspectives, wisdom, and strengths, and collaborate on the goals you set for therapy. I provide a non-judgmental therapeutic space

I am currently exclusively practicing tele-therapy. If you are struggling, feeling anxious or overwhelmed, don't hesitate to reach out. I have almost 20 years of clinical practice and specialize in working with professional adults (attorneys, educators, engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, medical personnel, start-up founders and VC's), parents and college/graduate students managing life challenges. My style is respectful, caring and down to earth. I am culturally and spiritually sensitive and respect all individuals and family units. Please reach out to schedule an appointment.

Embarking on the journey of psychotherapy is a courageous and empowering act. My intention is to assist you in recognizing, respecting, and building on your strengths, and improving your capacity for self regulation. Through this partnership, I will assist you in bringing unconscious faulty core beliefs to the light of mindful awareness, engaging your wisdom and compassion. I will work with you collaboratively to address and navigate through your pain, your perceived limitations and stuck places, which are your growing edges. This demanding and enlivening work can improve your quality of life, and expand your capacity for joy and happiness.

In my work with individuals, couples, children, teens and families I strive to create a warm, nurturing and compassionate environment for personal exploration and healing. In this space all parts of you are welcome. I see therapy as a collaboration where you and I partner to create an achievable plan to improve your relationships, increase your sense of vitality, and work towards your personal goals. In my work, I have witnessed how life's challenges can create emotional scars that then consciously or unconscious run our lives. These scars can manifest as a variety of mental health and relational issues.

We all go through difficult times and it takes courage to reach out for support. You may be wondering how therapy can help you. Perhaps you want support with a challenging issue, to relieve anxiety, recover from trauma or to change patterns that no longer work for you. You may want to improve a relationship or get support with parenting or working through loss. You can make changes, break patterns, and heal. Therapy is a place to get support, to explore new strategies for coping better with life, and to view things from an expanded perspective. Our challenges present us with opportunities to heal as well as grow.