Susan Garner, MA, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Not all storms come to disrupt your life,
some come to clear your path.
– Paulo Coelho
Areas of Expertise
I have been a practicing psychotherapist for over 20 years, working with clients from 17-70+ years of age, including individuals, families, couples (including same sex couples), those from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, as well as parents and their adult children seeking to heal old wounds, re-establish connection, and improve their relationship. The common denominator in my work with every client is the depth of my commitment to their healing and personal growth. Together we will define your objectives and goals and review these to measure progress, while making adjustments and changes as needed.
Whatever my client’s objectives (even when these are not clearly identified or understood), I can help. Whether it is to identify and change limiting beliefs, thoughts and behaviors or work through deep grief buried long before it was possible to understand or process.
Therapy has been described as the “talking” cure and sometimes the very act of talking or sharing of experience and feelings with an experienced professional can help…help in the moment to not feel so alone or crazy, and in the long run, to have the clarity, confidence and self-esteem to create a life by design.
I have studied a variety therapy disciplines and blend traditions from the East (mindfulness, insight-oriented therapy) and West (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-CBT, Internal Family Systems IFS), body-mind therapies (Hakomi, Alexander Lowen), and psychodynamic approaches to effectively address individual needs and differences.
I have successfully worked with the following issues:
- Major depressive disorders
- Bipolar disorder
- Trauma
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Low self-esteem
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Grief and loss
- Life transitions including marriage and divorce, blended families, birth of a new child, death of a loved one (including pets)
- Coping
- Effective communication skills
- Marital problems
- Relationship problems
- Codependency
- Substance use
- ADHD
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Personality Disorders
- Pre-Marital Counseling
