Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is my primary approach in working with couples and families. My experience over the past thirty years, in pastoral counseling and as a professional therapist, has led me to see that relational problems need more than new skills for problem solving and conflict management. Distressed couples are caught in negative cycles with roots originating in a relational context larger than the marriage relationship.
Rather than focus on the dysfunctions of individuals, I look for solutions from among a couple’s or family’s resources and strengths and serve as a guide while they learn to experience each other in new and more positive ways. Through the lens of EFT I especially target the retraining of a couple’s reactive responses to and perceptions of each partner. My ultimate objective in marriage counseling is to help create a renewed sense of connection and safety as couples work through the inevitable challenges life presents.
I am a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists and the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy. I am qualified at the Advanced Level of training in Emotionally Focused Therapy. I earned the Master of Marriage and Family Therapy from Abilene Christian University, as well as, a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Lubbock Christian University and the Master of Missiology from Abilene Christian University. Having lived in Brazil as a missionary for nearly three decades, I am bi-cultural and speak Portuguese fluently.