SEXUAL ABUSE and TRAUMA
I have had many experiences that prepare me to work in the field of trauma.
In my counseling graduate program, and during the years I remained on staff as an adjunct professor, my area of expertise was helping survivors of sexual abuse. I also taught a course in Human Growth and Development to those in the MA program.
As academic research has evolved during the last twenty years I was fortunate to attend conferences and deepen my understanding of the biological aspects of trauma. I also have learned and mastered many experiential methods of facing trauma.
MARRIAGE COUNSELING
Marriage counseling is a dynamic interplay of hope and honesty. I have taught marriage workshops and retreats (Wind River Ranch in Estes Park) with my husband, Al Andrews. We also created an online 6 part video series for those seeking pre-marital counseling.
Throughout my decades as a therapist I have been fortunate to witness couples make a key decision to understand their rupturing events and learn how to repair them. I often refer to the text of Gottman’s book, Fight Right, (2024 edition). It is important to have an impartial third party to lead the pace of what can be faced and when and how it can be faced to have an outcome that increases intimacy instead of driving a couple apart.
GRIEF COUNSELING
Non-profit providers of intensives and residential treatment have used my materials to guide those in deep grief through their daily discomfort. I have studied the experience of feeling out of step with your former life. I help regulate fears of being taken over by grief and fears of losing touch with the loved one that died. I often use visuals, poems, and videos to help a person know that they are not alone.
Loss can be ambiguous, meaning that it is not public knowledge. This time of rupture is not a “clear” loss that has a funeral and the traditional supports for those grieving. It is often overlooked in the therapeutic community.
I also work with parents of suicide and those dealing with a terminal diagnosis. It is an honor to be a safe and reliable witness to the darkest hours that one can be asked to endure.