I’ve worked with many different people over the years, from all walks of life, with all sorts of problems and situations. One thing I’ve learned for sure is that there is no one right way to live. For most people, though, having a connection with at least one other person that affirms the basic value of our existence is vitally important. My work focuses on helping people improve their ability to create and maintain mutually enhancing connections with others.
Family of Origin Work
One of my specialties is helping people improve their relationships with their parents and siblings. This is called “Family of Origin Work”. Most of us believe that the problems in our families would be resolved if only the other person(s) would change. We suffer so much from our ineffective attempts to get them to change. In my approach, we shift the focus to finding ways we would like to change our own reactivity to family members. Using humor, compassion, and gradualism (taking small steps), together with a thorough understanding of patterns of interaction within the family, we find the hidden ways to less stress and better connection.
Money Matters
A second specialty of mine is helping people improve their relationships with money, as individuals and as members of a couple, family or community. Money is a most powerful symbol of value in our society, and feelings about money evoke more stress for most people than any other single thing. Yet we have all experienced the taboo against openly talking about it, because we sense that to do so may be dangerously revealing of aspects of our self esteem that are more comfortable hidden. I like to make talking about money issues less stressful and more enjoyable, so that better money management can emerge.