FAQ
Where can we connect, and when?
In person 767 Pearl Street, #220 Boulder, CO 80302
Online Available to couples throughout Colorado and nationwide.
The best first step is a free 30-minute consultation — a chance to ask questions, get a feel for the work, and find out if this is the right fit.
Schedule a Free Consultation → Or call: (720) 443-1071
What are your hours and how do we get started?
I see couples Tuesday through Thursday, 10am to 6pm, and Friday 10am to 2pm.
The best first step is a free 30-minute consultation by video. It’s a chance to talk about what’s bringing you in, ask any questions, and get a feel for whether this is the right fit.
Schedule a Free Consultation → Or call: (720) 443-1071
What is a free consultation?
A free 30-minute video call — for both partners — before we begin.
It’s not a therapy session. It’s a conversation. You share what’s bringing you in, I listen and ask a few questions, and we both get a sense of whether this is the right fit. If I think there’s a better match for you elsewhere, I’ll tell you honestly and point you in the right direction.
No pressure. No commitment. Just a real conversation to start.
What is your experience as a therapist?
My path to couples work wasn’t a straight line — and I think that’s part of what makes it effective.
Before becoming a therapist I worked as a fish biologist in Alaska, then as a Structural Integration Practitioner and Therapeutic Yoga Instructor, and eventually directed rehabilitation at a chronic pain clinic. Working with chronic pain patients showed me something I’ve never forgotten: trauma lives in the body, and it quietly shapes our capacity for connection long after the original wound has passed.
That understanding led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, specializing in trauma, attachment, and relationships. I’ve spent the years since focused on one question: how do we break free from the patterns that keep us stuck?
I work exclusively with couples now — because I’ve come to believe the relationship itself is where the deepest healing happens. My clinical training includes advanced work in PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy) and AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy). I consult regularly with Stan Tatkin, the founder of PACT.
What ties my whole career together is this: healing happens in relationship, through the body, and over time. That conviction sits underneath everything I do in the room with couples.
How do I prepare for a telehealth session?
Find a private space where you won’t be interrupted. Both partners should sit together in front of the camera — the larger the screen, the better.
Make sure your internet connection is stable, your faces are well lit, and you can speak without being overheard.
That’s it. The rest is just showing up.
With whom do you work?
I work exclusively with couples.
Whether you’re dating, engaged, married, or navigating a second partnership — the work is the same. We look at what’s actually driving the patterns between you: the attachment wounds, nervous system responses, and relational blueprints each of you brought into the relationship long before you met each other.
Many couples come to me after realizing their problems aren’t really about communication. They’re about unhealed trauma showing up between two people who love each other and can’t figure out why it keeps feeling like this.
This isn’t traditional talk therapy. We work in real time — with what’s happening between you in the room, with your nervous systems, with the moments of disconnection as they actually occur. That’s where lasting change happens.
If you’ve tried couples therapy before and felt like it only scratched the surface, that’s exactly why I’m here.
Do you recommend that couples in therapy also seek individual therapy?
Sometimes, yes — and I’ll tell you directly if I think it would help.
There are moments in couples work when something surfaces that needs more space than a shared session can hold. When that happens, I’ll say so. Individual therapy running alongside couples work can deepen the process — not because the relationship isn’t the focus, but because each person brings themselves into the relationship.
That said, it’s not a requirement. Many couples do their deepest work here without individual therapy running alongside it.
What do you care about most when working with your clients?
Honest progress over comfortable sessions.
I care most about what’s actually changing — not just how the session feels in the room, but whether something is genuinely shifting between you. That means I’ll work hard to understand what’s underneath the patterns you bring in, stay curious when things get complicated, and tell you the truth about what I’m seeing even when it’s uncomfortable.
I want couples to leave this work with something real — a relationship that feels fundamentally different, not just better managed. That’s what I hold in mind from the first session to the last.
What is your education and training?
Academic background MA in Clinical Psychology, Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. BA in Biology, Wittenberg University. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Colorado. Post-graduate training from Denver Family Institute. Board Certified Coach (BCC).
PACT — Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy My primary couples therapy framework. Advanced training with founder Dr. Stan Tatkin, with whom I consult regularly. PACT works at the level of biology, attachment, and nervous system — going well beyond communication skills to help couples build secure functioning from the ground up.
AEDP — Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy A depth-oriented trauma therapy that reaches what talk therapy alone cannot. I also trained in Transformative Couples Therapy (TCT) — AEDP adapted specifically for couples work — directly with its developer, David Mars.
Additional training Emotion-Focused Therapy, The Gottman Method, Nonviolent Communication, and somatic approaches that address how trauma lives in the body.
What sets this training apart isn’t the list — it’s the integration. PACT and AEDP together address both the relational and the neurobiological dimensions of couples work. That combination is why couples who have felt stuck for years begin to move.
What level of PACT training do you have?
I completed PACT Level 2 and currently coach other therapists learning PACT through the Institute’s training programs. I’ve been studying the model since 2011 — long enough to have trained in, certified in, and moved beyond the other major couples frameworks, including the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy. PACT is what I kept coming back to.
I attend Stan Tatkin’s yearly master class — a small, in-person intensive for advanced clinicians working directly with Stan and his wife Tracey — and I consult with Stan regularly on active cases. I’m also preparing for Level 3 Advanced Practicum, a training that isn’t offered every year and reflects how Stan has continued to evolve the model.
If you’ve done your research on PACT and want to know where your therapist stands in it, that’s exactly the right question to ask.
What are your own personal experiences with therapy?
I’ve done my own work — and I think that matters.
I know what it’s like to sit in that chair. To look honestly at the patterns you’ve been carrying, understand where they came from, and choose something different. That experience doesn’t make me your therapist’s therapist — but it does mean I’m not asking you to do anything I haven’t been willing to do myself.
It takes courage to show up for this kind of work. I don’t take that lightly.
What are some of your top relationship book recommendations?
I am trained by Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, a clinician, researcher, teacher, and developer of A Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy® (PACT). I highly recommend any of his books.
If you decide to work me I will encourage you to read or listen to one or more of these books together as a couple.
- Wired for Love (2nd edition): How Understanding Your Partner’s Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship
- Your Brain on Love: The Neurobiology of Healthy Relationships
- In Each Other’s Care: A Guide to the Most Common Relationship Conflicts and How to Work Through Them
- We Do: Saying Yes to a Relationship of Depth, True Connection, and Enduring Love
- Relationship RX: Insights and Practices to Overcome Chronic Fighting and Return to Love
- Wired for Dating: How Understanding Neurobiology and Attachment Style Can Help You Find Your Ideal Mate
- Baby Bomb: A Relationship Survival Guide for New Parents
Why are your rates higher than other couples therapists?
Because the training behind this work is different — and that difference shows up in the room.
Most therapists who see couples haven’t trained specifically in couples therapy. I’ve spent years in advanced study of PACT and AEDP, two of the most rigorous frameworks available for couples work. I consult regularly with Stan Tatkin, the founder of PACT. That level of specialization is uncommon — and it’s why couples who have felt stuck for years begin to move.
The format is also different. Sessions here run 90 minutes to three hours — not 50 minutes. That’s not a luxury. It’s what it actually takes to reach the patterns driving your conflict and come back to each other safely before you leave.
If you’re comparing rates, compare the full picture — the training, the format, and the depth of work you’re investing in.
Why are couples sessions so long?
Session length here is determined by the work — not by preference or cost.
Reaching the patterns that drive your conflict takes time. Coming back to each other safely before you leave takes the rest of it. Ninety minutes is the minimum for meaningful work at this level. Two hours is often what the work requires.
Fifty-minute couples sessions don’t get you there and back. That’s why I don’t offer them.
Why do you require payment in advance?
Payment in advance is how I hold your time — and it’s also how couples hold their own commitment to the process. In my experience, couples who have made the financial investment before they arrive show up differently. It’s not just a billing policy. It’s part of how the work begins.
Do you accept insurance?
No. This is a private-pay practice. I do not bill insurance and do not provide superbills for couples work.
This is both a practical and an ethical choice. Insurance billing requires designating one partner as the “identified patient” with a clinical diagnosis. In couples therapy, the relationship is the client — not one individual — and I won’t compromise that framing to fit an insurance model.
If cost is a concern, I’m happy to talk through what the investment looks like during our free consultation.