Welcome to Polaris Counseling! We are a group practice consisting of fully licensed counselors and social workers. Our mission is to provide high quality counseling services to individuals, couples and families in a professional, non-judgmental, and friendly environment at an affordable cost to you!
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find {with awareness and compassion} all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." ~ Rumi So much of my work with couples comes back to this quote. When we are aware of those barriers within ourselves we can get a lot further a lot faster than details of daily life that so quickly distract us from our true work.
Some of my current favorite relationship books:
Conscious Loving: The Journey to Co-Commitment, A Way to Be Fully Together Without Giving Up Yourself by Gay Hendricks and Kathly Hendricks
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert by John M Gottman and Nan Silver
How We Love: Discover Your Love Style, Enhance Your Marriage by Milan and Kay Yerkovich
My work with couples often focuses on finding the underlying conflict and/or unmet needs that can end up festering and eroding the foundation of the relationship. I help each partner discover these needs and communicate in more accurate and productive ways. This can help each other genuinely want to understand and meet each other's needs, instead of deny/defend patterns that may exist. In cases of various forms of infidelity, after the direction and goal of therapy is explored, we may examine conditions that led to the behavior and learn from them to build a stronger and healthy relationship. Moreover, this process can help toward establishing long term forgiveness and trust. It can be surprising what is possible to overcome and how much better things can be.
Marriage and Relationship counseling involves being able to engage both parties on a level where each feels understood and listen to. My advance training in the Gottman approach has been useful for my clients. I also received education in Marriage Counseling at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. The combination of the two allows me to be able to provide both in-depth and solutions focused therapy. For couples counseling to be effective, both partners need to be willing to take responsibility for their part in the problems, to accept each other's faults, and to be motivated to repair the relationship.
I see the therapeutic process as myself guiding my clients through difficult situations to move forward in life, and feel more energized. My clients say that I supportively nudge them along and that our therapeutic rapport is what helps them better find themselves.
Are you feeling depressed or anxious? Are your life and relationships unfulfilling? Can't let go of past hurts? Using sex or the internet to avoid others or painful emotions? Nothing gets better no matter what you try? Maybe it's time for a change!
Part of the healing process is being listened to and understood. I help you see more clearly what has been happening and what that may mean for you, providing a safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be explored and understood. Together, we work to help you move from wherever you're stuck.
I have started working with couples this year and found that working with couples brings things back to the basic foundations of relationships, working on communication, trust and intimacy.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, MSW: LCSW, LSW, PEL
Do you believe that counseling is just for unhappy couples? Counseling gives each partner involved: basic tools and strategies to enrich their communication: show respect for their partner, as well as themselves; and grow in healthy ways. It can be a valuable addition to any relationship. Counseling is a priceless opportunity for couples who want to build a healthy and long-lasting relationship. With the growing number of unsatisfied couples in relationship, counseling or coaching from a professional can be the crucial step for improving your relationship, helping each of you work on key concerns that are causing conflict, and working towards progress with each session.
Our counselors, at Chris....