Counseling
Areas of Focus
Presenting problems are often alike, but no two people are, nor are the ways people approach their difficulties. With that said, I have experience with a theme of problems, but I approach solutions with the individual in mind. I don’t tackle someone’s problem with a one-size-fits-all approach, but get to know my clients as unique people. I attempt to obtain a complete picture including strengths, limitations, background, fears, insecurities and experiences that will help me tailor a solution to the problem. Below are a list of problems I’m comfortable and experienced working with.
My philosophy does not draw from an illness model, but a strength based model. I believe we all have the inherent tools and abilities to thrive and be happy. Life is sometimes hard, but we don’t have to be taken down by what life brings. Learning to effectively process the painful feelings is just as important as being able to fully experience the “good” feelings. By exploring and accepting our complete range of emotions, we stop resisting who we are. Shame and fear begin to subside while confidence and relief begin to emerge. No person is broken or needs to be fixed, but only rediscovered.
Reduced Fee Intern Counseling
Intern Geoffrey Faustman, MA, IMF
Geoffrey Faustman, IMF is a registered Marriage & Family Therapist intern and has completed his master’s degree and is accruing additional hours of experience to become licensed by the state of California. He has over 1500 hours of experience and is under my direct supervision. The benefit of working with a registered intern is that clients receive quality counseling from a master’s level therapist with a minimum of 1500 hours of experience at a lower cost. As part of his supervision, he discusses his work and with me weekly, so clients get additional input from a licensed therapist. Geoffrey has daytime and evening appointments and affordable rates.
-Sylvia Flanagan, MFT
Couples' Counseling
Couples counseling is a tool for healing and maintenance and can be effective at any stage in a relationship. Many couples come into counseling when they have exhausted all other options, but it’s a great resource to use when you are just beginning to see problems. If a couple can gather tools to navigate disagreement when conflict is low, larger problems are often prevented because they have the needed skills to use in the face of future challenges. Disagreement is inevitable, but conflict is optional.
Individual Counseling
Individual counseling gives people the opportunity to reflect on their inner world and how they react to others based upon beliefs, fears, insecurities and patterns influenced by the past and present. I believe counseling should be a collaborative process. We don’t live in a vacuum but in counseling it’s nice to have the opportunity to reflect alone accompanied by a therapist mirroring back what you might be missing. Usually, people come to individual counseling because they are struggling with personal issues that effect happiness, motivation, relationships, activities, and/or work. To begin individual therapy, I want to understand your present circumstances, attain a basic understanding of your past (or more detailed depending upon your needs and desires) and together create goals that are important to you. In individual therapy, we explore patterns in life that block freedom, energy, growth and connection with self and others.
Premarital Counseling
I have seen many clients for couples counseling that I wished had invested in premarital counseling first. Most of us wouldn’t hesitate investing in what was meaningful to us, but a large percentage of couples still don’t invest in their relationship by participating in some form of premarital counseling. Studies indicate that overall, married couples who participate in premarital counseling have greater marital satisfaction, better communication skills and a lower divorce rate than married couples who don’t go through premarital counseling.
