Your 1st Therapy Session and Soon Thereafter - Part 3

For the past few blogs we have discussed the article 7 Things You Should Know Before Your First Therapy Appointment. I am still reflecting on the article and spending a good deal of time writing about its content because I see the article’s value and the time it can save if it were read before going to therapy.  

This article’s third guideline focuses on progress and check in’s. During my internships and soon after becoming licensed I worked for Los Angeles County agencies who had Department of Mental Health contracts.  Due to Los Angeles County’s licensing requirements we were often mandated to have some time requirement on treatment that was measurable; such as, quarterly or monthly written treatment plans with measurable goals.  Such rigid and often well intended items of the treatment plan would look something like this: Elizabeth is to reduce risky behaviors of excessive alcohol drinking, casual sex...

Are Elephants in the Room Affecting Your Life?

Can Placing Your Children and Teenagers on an Early Sleep Schedule Benefit Your Marriage? -- YES!

Recently I have been blogging about the the article 5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Raise Happier Children.  My belief is that this is a direct link to providing healthy support for couples with children.  As a marriage therapist in Los Angeles one cannot help but witness the modern day struggles of the parents of teenagers in Los Angeles.  The adolescent is a complex individual with challenging needs in a truly complicated society of the greater Los Angeles area. Whether it is the struggles of affluenza within the

Your 1st Therapy Session and Soon Thereafter - Part 2

So is it the First Visit and Meeting With a Therapist Whom You Don't Know? Free Consultation? Uhhh. Let's Discuss

I recently discussed the importance of a good fit with therapists and using referrals for finding therapists. To repeat myself, I also joked about this article 7 Things You Should Know Before Your First Therapy Appointment. The joke, if you haven't previously read, was that the article saved me 10 minutes of time and that it saved a new client 30 minutes of their time.  In truth, I believe that if a new client were to read this article and understand it, it might save them about 450 minutes and about $1750.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room - Adolescents and Working? Do They Mix?

In my last week’s blog, Elephant in the Room - Teenagers Can Be Wedges, I termed the phrases sharp marital wedge and the guy-talked-term cockblocking.  All to say, teenagers can cause difficulties in partnerships or marital relationships. What was also mentioned ...

Your 1st Therapy Session and Soon Thereafter

Is it a Good FIT? And is a Therapist's Connection to you that Important? Yes!

I made a joke about this article 7 Things You Should Know Before Your First Therapy Appointment. The joke was that the article saved me 10 minutes of time and that it saved a new client 30 minutes of their time.  Frankly, that was an understatement. If a new client were to read this article and understand it, it might save them about 450 minutes and about $1750.  Working with new clients is a delicate relationship. Out of 10 clients, I would say nine have sought ...

The Elephant in the Room - Adolescents Can Be Wedges!

I have been focusing on couples counseling and marital support in the Los Angeles area for the past several years.  I absolutely love working with this population. When couples hang in there during the therapeutic process it is just a thrill to see results.  Couples and marriage therapy collaboration can be the most intrinsically tratifying feeling ever imaginable. Having a couple come to me and account their reconnection or report that they have found something new and meaningful is like ...

Can we make healthy jokes? About Marriage?

I just read Pause for Reflection The secret of a successful marriage in the long haul and honestly became nervous.  This nervousness was because I was at a coffee shop writing a blog and shifted abruptly to post this article because I realized that I blurted out an embarrassingly high-volumed-shocked-beyond-belief laugh which caused everyone to turn in my direction.