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I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of Restoring Connections Counseling. It is a blessing and a privilege to journey with couples as they transition from dealing with difficult relationship issues including infidelity and divorce recovery, conflict and communication difficulties, lack of intimacy and lack of connection to restoring their relationships, feeling more connected with their spouses or partners, feeling happier, hopeful and realizing their relationship potential.
We have an inherent, universal need as human beings for a safe haven relationship where a loved one is experienced as emotionally assessable and responsive so that this person can be depended upon. The most basic core problem in relationships is the lack of secure emotional connection. It is the lack of emotional responsiveness and secure interactions that turn differences and conflict into negative spirals that destroy trust and erode the relationship. If you know how to reach for each other, pull each other close, and hold each other, this creates safety between the two of you. You can learn how to help each other when you get scared and anxious or when one of you has hurt feelings, you can create safety and connection between the two of you instead of missing each other and getting stuck in a pattern that doesn’t work. This is what Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on, the emotional bond between the two of you. I utilize EFT which has been demonstrated by research to improve marriages, supports God’s design for marriage and our need for relational connection. In addition to my training in Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman Method Couples Therapy, I utilize other empirically-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Strength-Based Approaches. Personal experience and extensive training allows me to work with families of separation, divorce, co-parenting, blended families and premarital couples with compassion. I am trained in two research based marital assessment programs: Prepare-Enrich and SYMBIS, which are intended to help couples identify growth areas as well as unique strengths of their relationship.
I offer pre-marital counseling and workshops as well. I am passionate about journeying alongside couples struggling with destructive relationship patterns such as infidelity, lack of communication and conflict, in addition to family issues, and life transitions that cause anxiety and distress.
It is my own experience with divorce and remarriage that led me to want to be a Marriage and Family therapist, specializing in restoring relationships. The scripture that encouraged me through my own painful season of divorce was Isaiah 61:1-4. God comforted my broken heart and released me from the pain. As I mourned God gave me beauty for ashes – festive praise instead of despair. As God healed me He began to rebuild my life and more than restored me, He called me into counseling so that I can bring the good news to those who suffer.
I received my Bachelor of Science in Business and my Masters in Public Administration from California State University Dominguez Hills. I worked with several faith based nonprofits before staying home to raise and homeschool my children for 5 years. In 2017, I earned my Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fuller Theology Seminary. I am committed to professional and personal growth, seeking opportunities to learn and grow in my faith and as a therapist.
