I specialize in individual and couple therapy. I have experience and training in the treatment of mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders, posttraumatic stress, and interpersonal and work related problems. Among the many issues I treat are: relationship issues, anger, chronic illness, coping with death and dying, divorce and separation, premarital counseling, adjusting to parenthood, stress management and men's issues dealing with relationships, accessing emotions, the transition to fatherhood, and improving: honesty (to self and others), communication and connection. I provide therapy for individuals and couples who wish to make changes in their lives and in their relationships that are long-lasting and positive. I offer safe, compassionate and supportive counseling in an atmosphere that deepens understanding and promotes healing. My style of therapy is active, positive, empathic and respectful of personal values and lifestyles. In my work, I explore and validate each individual’s emotions and relational needs, and respond genuinely to them. I approach the therapy session as a healing place where a corrective emotional experience can happen, and it is that process that is the method of therapeutic change.

The kind of therapy I do with couples is based on an emotionally focused approach known as Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT). When couples disagree, most repeat the following disruptive pattern: blame, criticize, defend, express contempt, distance, and emotionally or physically withdraw. Distress is not about how many fights you have or even if you resolve the fights. Distress is about how you fight, and whether you can retain some sort of emotional connection after the fight. While traditional types of marital counseling tend to be open-ended and seek to solve immediate problems, such as continual arguing, by focusing primarily on behavior change and communication skills, the EFT approach hones in on increasing a couple's appreciation for how each partner feels in order to build trust and a secure base they can each rely on. In this approach, couples learn to recognize the negative cycle they are stuck in, where one person criticizes and the other responds defensively or withdraws. Couples learn to identify the needs and fears that keep them in that cycle. They learn to identify and express their underlying emotions. Partners learn to empathize with each other and become more supportive of each other. Partners come together through the emotional needs they are each expressing, and can begin to comfort each other's needs. Until a couple is able to identify, acknowledge and ultimately forgive injuries, an emotional gulf persists between them. No matter how disatisfying things have become and how unhappy or angry partners may be, they each need to feel safe in coming together to work out their problems. Each partner needs to understand the emotions dictating their actions. The emotions behind perceived problems are the key to understanding each other.   As a certified EFT therapist and supervisor, Sam's expertise in this model of therapy is recognized by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). The primary goals of certification are to promote excellence in the practice of EFT and to ensure maintenance of these standards in both the supervision and training of this approach.

Couple Therapy is a journey that can lead you: From alienation to emotional connection. From vigilant defense and self-protection, to openness and risk taking. From a passive helplessness in the face of the inexorable dance of the relationship, to a sense of being able to actively create that dance.

From desperate blaming of the other, to a sense of how each partner makes it difficult for the other to be responsive and caring. From a focus on the other's flaws, to the discovery of one's own fears and longings But most of all, from isolation to connectedness.