Providing marriage-guidance counseling in a strong, supportive, and non-judgmental setting. |
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Providing marriage-guidance counseling in a strong, supportive, and non-judgmental setting. |
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(Please leave your name, phone number, and a good time to reach you.
I
shall return your call within 24 hours.)
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and I've been working with married couples for over 16 years. I've also been married for 20 years; so I know that it takes work— plus knowledge of specific tools and techniques — to keep a relationship satisfying and healthy for each spouse.
A lack of communication and understanding between partners can show up in a relationship as a distancing, lingering resentment, or feeling of "falling out of love." In marriage counseling, you will learn to really listen to your partner. You will be amazed at how little you have both actually listened to each other in the past!
You will:
The marriage counselor does not "take sides," and nobody is "wrong." It is a bizarre fact of life that people take on the stresses and strains of living together (and often raising a family) without any training whatsoever. In marriage counseling, you will learn simple but powerful techniques to help you live and work together, and to love and appreciate each other.
If you have questions in addition to those below, please feel free to send email. (Email is monitored weekly.)
This depends greatly on both parties and the issues that you are dealing with. Issues such as poor communication, for example, may only require three months; deeper and more complex issues could require longer.
I am licensed to provide receipts to you for marriage guidance to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Note, however, that all counseling sessions must be paid for by you at the time of the office visit.
I do not accept HMO clients. I prefer not to be on HMO panels because there is a possibility that my clinical judgment can be overruled and also that clients could lose client confidentiality.
This is a license issued by the Board of Behavioral Science of the State of California to therapists who have a Masters or Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, who have passed both written and oral examinations administered by the Board, and who have completed 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience. An LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) is licensed to provide psychotherapeutic sessions to individuals, couples, and families who experience problems in their relationships to family, friends, coworkers, and community.
I am also a clinical member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
Perhaps, for example, you would prefer to work with a male marriage counselor. The relationship that you establish with your therapist is very important; so it is important that you feel that you can relate openly and honestly to them. I am part of an extensive network of psychologists, psychiatrists, and LMFTs who work in the Bay Area. Thus, if you have special needs, please call and I would be happy to give you appropriate referrals.
Are my health records confidential?
Any health provider, such as a doctor or a psychotherapist, who conducts any business electronically (such as billing insurance electronically, sending emails, keeping records on a computer) is required to abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). See the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices for details on your legal rights in this regard.
Serving the Bay Area with offices in Berkeley and San Francisco. For both the Berkeley and the San Francisco offices, please call (510) 287-2677.
Copyright (c) 1997 -- 2009. Iris Stallworth-Grayling, MA, LMFT.