Counseling and Coaching Expertise

Life is both a combination of what happens to you and what you make of it – and we support people in both spaces.

  • When you are facing challenges that you did not choose nor ever expected to be a part of your journey – I will create a safe space for you to be heard and help you define and move toward the future you choose.

  • I offer coaching for individuals, couples and families that would like to develop a strategy to live their best life.  My goal is to help you thrive – to feel empowered, excited and ready for what lies next in your journey.

Support for the moment. A path forward with hope.

Counseling

Grief and Loss

As you face your grief and explore what comes next in a story that looks far different from the one you dreamed, I will help make space for the entire narrative. 

I will give you tools for the experience you are in and help you explore how to grow and thrive despite the pain. 

I believe there is no therapeutic approach or protocol to follow in grief counseling because the symptoms experienced are normal and appropriate for an experience of profound loss.  Rather, we will explore, together, how to make space for the wide variety of feelings that emerge, validating the experience and finding a path toward hope and peace while also grieving.  We make space for the BOTH/AND.

Grief is a very individualized experience.  No two people grieve alike, nor should we encourage them to.  It is my goal to help people discover what they need in order to share their pain, acknowledge and respect their loss, and to find peace in the midst of the grief and heartache.

Infertility

When the one thing you are working hardest at, the one thing you dream of most, feels beyond your reach, I listen and offer concrete tools for how to manage.

I make space for the reality that no two people experience infertility in the same way.  Your story is your own and I will provide a place for you to share, grieve, manage the impact of this experience on relationships, find hope and explore what comes next. 

My therapeutic perspective in this work is largely based on our own protocols which we have developed over the past 20 years of working with families -and teaching and training providers about how to support families - going through infertility. 

I believe that the pain of infertility is unique to each individual and couple and is also very misunderstood and sometimes hidden by our culture.  

Grieving even as you work to support and/or grow the family you have creates a unique set of challenges.  Finding a safe space to share this experience is a critical part of moving forward in a healthy way.  

Relational Challenges

Relationships are challenging because life is challenging. 

We may be equipped with wonderful communication tools and excellent experience working with partners or we may come to a partnership with a history of heartache and difficulty trusting. 

Whatever your relational circumstance may be, my goal is to provide a place where you can explore what is happening, define what you need, share your experience in healthy ways and create a path forward that feels hopeful. 

My therapeutic lens is the evidence based approach known as Emotionally Focused Therapy which draws on attachment theory and works to facilitate healthy, secure connection with others.  Link: https://drsuejohnson.com/iceeft/

Trauma

When we experience distressing events that impact our sense of safety in the world, we need tools to understand our physical and emotional responses and to bring ourselves back into alignment and balance. 

I create a safe space to process what you have experienced while also helping you find their inner strengths and resources – as well as those around you.

I use protocols developed by the Trauma Resource Institute as well as years working with a wide variety of clients who have experienced severe trauma. https://www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/about

Individual Growth

When your next steps feel out of focus, your relationship to yourself or others seems “off” or you know you need to step back to explore what your personal goals are, I can help. 

Through psychodynamic, CBT, internal family systems, attachment and strengths based modalities, I explore a wide variety of tools and techniques to help you find strength, hope and empowerment.