Emotionally Focused Therapists in Arlington, VA

Do you feel dissatisfied with your relationship? Are you tired of feeling disconnected and out of sync with your partner? Do you wish you could find and follow your gut? We all have periods in our life where we need help navigating difficult situations, decisions, the day-to-day stressors, and our relationships. I work with my clients to help them regain a feeling of self control, personal worth and goal attainment. I have over 15 years of experience working with individuals and couples in outpatient and community mental health settings as both a therapist and a leader.

Are you feeling anxious or sad or dealing with trauma? Perhaps you are struggling with your marriage or other relationships. Do you feel concerned about your children? Or maybe life is presenting obstacles surrounding chronic illness or life transitions? I integrate a holistic approach and treatments to improve mental health and quality of life. I will listen attentively and assist you in exploring and understanding your innate self awareness. I will teach you specific ways to shift thoughts and behaviors that will calm your body and provide relief and reduction of symptoms.

I view therapy as a collaborative process where the client is the expert on themselves, and the therapeutic relationship is the most important factor in creating change. It is important to have a safe, empowering, and supportive environment in order to examine hurtful relationship patterns and emotional difficulties, and in turn change negative self-evaluations to better respond to life's challenges. I am genuinely interested in and committed to helping my clients gain insight and express their needs in order to engage in more healthy relationships and live the life they want.

Dr. Chango-James specializes in the treatment of anxiety (OCD, GAD, Specific Phobias, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Trichotillomania, Excoriation), trauma and PTSD, insomnia, and chronic pain. Additionally, she is trained to work with couples and families experiencing relationship and communication challenges. She typically works with late adolescents and adults from a variety of backgrounds. Dr. Chango-James believes in the importance of providing empirically supported treatments that fit the individual needs of each patient and integrating evidence-based approaches and scientific research into her psychotherapy practice.

Are you feeling alone in your relationships? Do you love your partner, but can't seem to get along? Are you longing for a stronger sexual connection? Do you wonder if your partner still loves you? Have you lost one another through difficult life challenges? Has addiction, infidelity or other battles left you feeling you'll never recover? There is a way out. There is hope. I can help. I want your relationship to be full of love, friendship, meaningful sex, and lasting security. Give me a call and let's talk.

I am a Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist and Supervisor specializing in treating couples and families. The journey of life can be difficult. As humans, we "need emotional connection like we need oxygen” (Sue Johnson). Strong relationships enable us to move forward through life stresses and reach our potential. But when we are disconnected from others (or even from our own core values), we may experience depression, anxiety or despair; this lets us know we are outside of our truth and need to make a change. EFT is the roadmap I use to help couples, families and individuals heal, build bonds and access their core essence.

We all have a unique journey in life, as individuals and as couples, and I believe that our resilience is as unique as our journey. I work with clients to help them overcome distressing cycles that make them feel stuck and empower them to find stability, create healthier relationships and live an enriched life. Together we explore underlying emotions and find new ways of coping with past traumas, difficult life transitions, loss, relational distress and other mental health issues. While EMDR, mindfulness and cultural sensitivity are at the core of my practice, I also integrate Psychodynamic and CBT interventions.

We all have places where we struggle. We all have behaviors or emotions that limit us in living our most fulfilled and joyous life. Sometimes we need help making changes.

With 25+ years experience providing psychotherapy to individuals and couples, I enjoy knowing and helping EACH client. Call/email me if you are struggling with anxiety/depression, low self-esteem, relationship/marital problems or everyday stress. My approach comes from training in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Attachment-based Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, and Mindfulness. I enjoy working with individuals on problems of everyday living. The couples I see are stuck in negative cycles, or have experienced infidelity. I attend professional conferences/workshops regularly, and frequently collaborate with other professionals.

Connection with a loved one is the best source of resilience and comfort. As a Certified Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist ( EFT ), strengthening your connection with your loved one(s) is my overarching goal. Whether there has been a relationship rupture, a recent stressful life event, or your fast-paced life has just worn down your relationship, sitting together while experiencing the structured and empirically-validated process of EFT will help you open up with each other and build (or, re-build) your bond. Your love for each other can be re-energized and strengthened as a result of couple therapy.

I help individuals work on life issues tied to anxiety and depression, relationship difficulties, stress symptoms tied to childhood trauma, and families struggling with behavioral challenges. I teach communication skills that help with difficult relationships. These skills include helping my clients improve their power, voice, and contact with significant others. I employ many approaches in psychotherapy, including psychodynamic, gestalt, somatic experiencing (SE), accelerated experiential dynamic (AEDP), cognitive behavioral (CBT) and emotionally focused couples therapy ( EFT ).

We are a group practice with a shared passion for women's mental health. Our therapists have specialized training in perinatal and reproductive concerns and support clients through perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS), infertility, perinatal loss, and birth trauma.

Feeling disconnected can happen in any loving relationship. Sometimes couples find themselves in patterns that leave them feeling stuck, frustrated, and unsure of what to do next. Through EFT ( Emotionally Focused Therapy), couples can restructure their bond by learning to reach and respond in new ways. While experiencing relationship distress, couples often struggle to turn toward one another and utilize each other as a resource for strength and healing. Couple therapy can be the perfect place to find your way back to your partner.

Emailed Inquiries preferred. If you are seeking to enhance your life by building connection, confidence, character, and community, we invite you to contact us so we can begin the journey together. We work, primarily, from a Cognitive-Behavioral approach, which is a short-term, results-oriented method. Our clinicians use multiple counseling methodologies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Relational Cultural Therapy (RCT), Narrative Therapy, Mindfulness practices, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotion Focused Therapy ( EFT ), and others.

All of us feel times of heightened stress, sadness, and worry. For adolescents, this often comes as they navigate increased independence in a world of school, friends, family, and relationships. For adults in the hectic DC area, work-life balance often doesn’t feel very balanced at all, and many struggle for connection with family and friends. For families, there is often conflict and dissonance that arises as we grow and change. Sometimes this becomes just too much to manage on our own. As a therapist with 15+ years experience, I help clients work through these challenges and grow towards a place of security and connection.

I believe that everyone can heal, grow, and thrive through therapy. I enjoy working with clients to help them process trauma, loss, and grief and to help those who are suffering from depression and anxiety. Everyone needs connection and relationships in their lives. I help my clients become aware of their own needs, emotions, and fears so that they are better able to connect with others. My own experience with grief after losing my husband in a car accident forced me to grow and learn about recovery from catastrophic loss. We all face unique challenges and tragedies in our lives. Therapy can help us to feel less alone in our pain.