Aiki Relationship Institute (He/Him)
Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
In-Person in Oak Brook, IL 60523
Online in
PSYPACT states
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, CNMI, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
My passion is to help people create and maintain the best possible relationships they can in their lives. Most of that focus is on intimate relationships. Earlier in my career, I worked primarily with families around child-centered problems, and I ran the child and adolescent treatment team at a community mental health center for about fifteen years. Since I went into full-time private practice in 2006, I have shifted more and more toward working with couples, and my practice is now 70 to 80 per cent couples. I tend to be active but personal. I push couples pretty hard, but also offer a lot of support.
Client Focus
Session Format: Couple, Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult, Young Adult
Languages: English
Treatment Approach
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Focuses on strengthening emotional bonds in couples or families. It helps people identify negative cycles and create more secure connections.
- Family Systems Therapy Looks at problems within the context of the family as a whole. It aims to improve communication and balance in family relationships.
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy Based on decades of research, this method gives couples tools to improve communication, manage conflict, and strengthen intimacy.
- Integrative Therapy Combines techniques from multiple approaches into a customized plan. It adapts to each client’s unique situation and needs.
Approach Description: I integrate ideas from systems theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and Gottman and Emotion Focused therapy into an integrative model of working with couples and relationships.
Fees & Insurance
Fees
- Average Session Fee 180
- Accepts Insurance
- BCBS, United Healthcare/Behavioral Health, Aetna
Education & Credentials
Aiki Relationship Institute Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Male
- License # 071-004583
- Licensed in IL
- PSYPACT Mobility # 7738
- Practicing Since 1991
Education: I have a master's degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Houston. I remain rabidly curious and continue to pursue new ideas in knowledge in psychology and therapy, particularly in relationships and working with systems.
Aiki Relationship Institute Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available In-Person in Oak Brook, IL 60523
- Available Online for residents of PSYPACT states Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, CNMI, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- Online Therapy Details: Provide online therapy services through a HIPAA compliant zoom platform
The Aiki Relationship Institute has been around since 2006. Big fancy name, but it is just me, Mark Sharp, a psychologist. I work mostly with couples and almost exclusively with relationship issues. Mostly I work with couples, but will also help singles who are struggling with relationship issues and will see individuals in a couple if their partner refuses to join them in therapy (a goal being to help their partners join, as therapy is much more efficient when both are involved.
I devote one day a week, Wednesdays, to in-person sessions in my office in Oak Brook, IL. Other than that, I provide online therapy through video sessions.
My interest in relationships and systems is part of what has pushed me down this path. While I recognize individual internal processes are important, I focus a lot on the interaction between people, how people create patterns that repeat over and over again (e.g. keep having the same fight, or any conflict ends up in the same place) and how to change the behavior and the emotional experience that drives those patterns. I have studied the major models of "evidence based" couples therapy, particularly the Gottman system and emotion focused couple therapy, but find it useful to integrate a number of ideas. Thus, I don't follow any pure model of therapy.
The Aiki in the name of my practice comes from Japanese, best translated in my mind to "harmonizing energy." I have practiced the Japanese martial art of aikido for more than 30 years and stole (my wife likes me to say borrowed) the aiki from that art. Aikido is all about blending with your attacker/partner's energy to neutralize conflict rather than overcome it. I find it a good model, or metaphor, for the blending of differences that needs to happen in a healthy relationship.
Over the past several years, I have also developed a specialty in working with people who practice ethical nonmonogamy across the spectrum from polyamory to swinging.