Psychologist, California Licensed Psychologist (License# PSY17495)
Successful negotiation of divorce is a frequent focus for my clients. Sometimes they will begin therapy while they are still married but are contemplating exiting the marriage, and sometimes clients present while divorcing or post divorce. There are a host of dimensions to this work. Often considering parenting and co-parenting is needed. Sometimes there are custody issues to work out. There could be a need for assistance in re-unifying or healing a relationship between a parent and child. Then for the parents there tend to become issues related to resuming dating, figuring out how to negotiate a new relationship in the context of parenting, and many other concerns. These are areas that I have experience with, both professionally, and personally. As a therapist I have worked clinically with countless people going through divorce, parents and children included. I also worked as a court employed child custody evaluator, in which I addressed high conflict divorcing couples. Personally, though, my life has been impacted by divorce both when I was child of divorcing parents and then as an adult when I went though my own divorce while co-parenting two young girls. I have come to realize that divorce is among the biggest stressors people can go through, and that helping the parents to divorce thoughtfully can have huge benefits to all parties involved. In my clinical work with divorce I use a variety of approaches. Sometimes I serve as a coach to one of the divorcing parties. Sometimes I work with the two parties to uncouple consciously. Such work with both parties can involve mediation, but so too can it involve ongoing coaching and support.