Parent-Child Contact Problems & Reunification

• Children’s Voices in Cases Involving Parent-Child Contact Problems, AFCC
• Vaccine Hesitancy in Family Law Matters, AFCC
• Deconstructing a Child Custody Evaluation for the Court, AFCC
• Custody Evaluation Class, Mediation Center
• Using Survey Data to Profile Extreme Views of Resist and Refusal Dynamics, AFCC
• How to Build a Problem-Solving Family Court, AFCC
• AFCC Webinar Series on Parent-Child Contact Problems, AFCC
• The Personality-Disordered Litigant, AFCC Half-Day Conference, AFCC-MN
• Advanced Issues in Child Custody: Evaluation, Litigation, and Settlement, AFCC-AAML National Conference, AFCC
• High Conflict Co-Parenting, William James College
• Overcoming the Odds: Recognizing and Restoring Resilience in High Conflict Families, AFCC-MN
• Divorce in the Therapeutic Setting, Porter Law PLLC
• Resistance, Refusal, Alienation: Matching the Problem to the Mental Health and Legal Intervention, AFCC
• Parenting Plans: A focus on High Conflict Families and Mental Health Problems, AFCC
• Mapping the Success of Interventions for Strained Parent-Child Relationships, AFCC
• Developing a High Conflict Structured Intervention Program, AFCC
• How Joint and Co-Parenting Sessions Resolve High Conflict Cases, AFCC
• Bridging Parental Conflict, The Bridging Center
• Overnights for Young Children: Parenting Plans that Grow with the Child, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
• Reunification Techniques in High Conflict Divorce and Family Abduction Cases, AFCC
• Tearing Your Hair Out: Exploring New Interventions in High Conflict Cases, AFCC
• Stepping Up Our Understanding of Parenting Plan Modifications, AFCC
• Co-Resolution and Legal Practice Groups: Innovations for the Modern Family, AFCC
• Disposable Relationships, Disposable Children? Repair Before Rupture? AFCC
• Increasing Parent Capacity to Hear the Child’s Voice, AFCC
• The Importance of Multi-partiality in Parental Alienation and Estrangement Cases, AFCC
• Court-Involved Therapy for Young Children, AFCC-MN
• Working with High Conflict Families, AFCC-MN
• Collaborative Therapy with Multi-Stressed Families, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Conflict Management Coaching, Cinergy Coaching

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) & Mediation

• Advanced Parenting Coordination 2020, William James College
• Parenting Consulting: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, AFCC- MN
• Parenting Consulting Training: Mitchell Hamline School of Law
• Notes from a Masterclass on Child-Informed Mediation, AFCC
• Child-Inclusive Mediation, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
• Parent Coaching, AFCC
• Family Mediation Training, Simon Mediation

Ethics

• Ethical and Legal Considerations When Treating Court-Involved Individuals and Families, Ascend Family Institute
• Professional Ethics and Boundaries, The Jonas Center
• Safe Harbor or Lost at Seas: Effectively Using Safe Harbors to Protect Therapy Records, AFCC-MN
• Accountability in the Practice of Mental Health, MPA
• Compliance, Minnesota Board of Psychology
• Advanced Legal & Ethical Issues for Therapists & Counselors, Kenwood Therapy Center

General

• Accelerated Resolution Therapy, RCRR
• Borderline, Narcissistic, Antisocial and Histrionic Personality Disorders, PESI
• Self-Defeating Habits of Otherwise Brilliant People, Thera-Rising International
• Introduction to Evidence-Based Narrative iPractice and Informational Workshop, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Taming the Abrasive Manager, The Boss Whispering Institute
• Internet Highs and Other Emerging Drug Abuse Trends, Hazelden Foundation
• Cyber Junkie: Escape the Gaming and Internet Trap, Hazelden Foundation
• Engaging the Spirit of Adolescents and Young Adults, Hazelden Foundation
• Narrative Therapy Advanced Training, Narrative Therapy Centre of Toronto
• Narrative Therapy with Children and Families, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Addressing Trauma: Using a Narrative Therapy Approach, Kenwood Therapy Center
• International Narrative Therapy Symposium, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Narrative Therapy Certificate Program, Kenwood Therapy center
• Narrative Therapy: Cutting the Problem Down to the Size/Style/Knowledge of Young People and Their Families, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Using Narrative Therapy when Working with Couples, Kenwood Therapy Center
• Gottman Method of Marital Therapy, Advanced Training, The Gottman Institute
• Filial Play Therapy, Family Enhancement and Play Therapy Center

I am a licensed psychologist and marriage and family therapist. My master’s degree in counseling is from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and I completed a post-master’s certificate program in marriage and family therapy also at St. Mary’s. I have advanced training in Narrative Therapy, Filial Play Therapy, and clinical hypnosis. I have advanced training in the Gottman Method for Couples Therapy, and a range of training and experience in conflict resolution and working with high conflict families and parent-child contact problems.

Professional memberships & qualifications:

Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA)

American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)

Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT)

Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC)

Rule 114 Qualified Neutral

I didn’t start out my career as a therapist, although I knew from the time I was in high school that this is what I wanted to do. After graduating from college, I moved to Japan to teach English, and this set the path for the next 15 years or so of my life. I worked in management consulting in Tokyo for much of that time, and was busy as a wife and mom as well. As I faced the challenges of being a busy mom, my interest in families and their development grew – it grew to the point that I decided I wanted to go back to grad school to learn more about healthy relationships and how to grow and nurture them.

Along the way, I learned more about conflict in relationships – whether that’s conflict in a marriage, in a business partnership, between a parent and their child, etc. I grew up in a typical Midwestern family that wasn’t very good at working through conflict, and so I could recognize in myself that I needed to learn this stuff! What I’ve learned through various trainings, reading of books, and personal experience has been tremendously helpful when working with the people that come to my office for therapy or coaching.

I really enjoy both of these aspects of what I do – helping people to have healthier relationships and to be better communicators and resolvers of conflict! I’d love to help you too.