Gretchen Scott (she/her)

Relationship and marriage are hard. They require vigilance and continuous effort. When we find ourselves out of sync, it can be like driving a vehicle that's out-of-alignment straight. It takes intentional attention, constant readjustment, staying within the defined boundaries, avoiding potholes, and finding the right guidance to find true North once again. We long for belonging, connection and acceptance. To reconnect to one another, we

I view relationships through an attachment lens, which means that I believe that the earliest connections in our life, are and continue to be, meaningful to our current and future ones. The early years of life set-the-stage for how we view the world and others. When our needs have been consistently met, we have a certain outlook, and when we've had disruptions, loss, or neglect/abuse early-on, that too affects us. We are not defined, only, by those early experiences, but they do matter.

Relationships are challenging and rewarding. Many of our wounds are exposed while in intimate and vulnerable relationships. We long for connection and belonging and sometimes find ourselves stuck in maladaptive patterns that aren't leading us to getting our needs met. I integrate both Emotion Focused Therapy and the practical Gottman skills to couples who are seeking deeper connection, better mutual understanding, conflict tools, and intimacy building.

The Gottman's have renowned research and evidence-based tools and resources to be utilized within couples therapy. As a Level 1 and Level 2 Certified Gottman Therapist, I can work alongside of a relationship to assess areas of strength and areas for growth and provide tools and guidance for how to begin healing and interacting with intention in areas where wounds have perhaps moved into trauma.

We, as a culture, need to do better in understanding adoption and specifically, adoptee trauma and grief. As a white adoptive-parent and clinician, I've had to address my biases and perspectives by turning to the experts, adoptee voices and stories, to learn. So much of the narrative surrounding adoption highlights the voices of (most often) white adoptive parents. Separation from birth/first-families often leaves wounds such as feelings of loss, rejection, shame, identity, and others.

Our primary attachment to our guardian or parental figure can give us insight as to how we may perceive and engage in future relationships. Ruptures, neglect, or abuse in formative relationships impact us at a visceral, emotional, cognitive, biopsychosocial, and spiritual way. In abandonment, we often find fault within ourselves and determine we are not good enough, unlovable and experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and shame.

Our primary attachment to our guardian or parental figure can give us insight as to how we may perceive and engage in future relationships. Ruptures, neglect, or abuse in formative relationships impact us at a visceral, emotional, cognitive, biopsychosocial, and spiritual way. In abandonment, we often find fault within ourselves and determine we are not good enough, unlovable and experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and shame. These wounds are worthy of noticing and acknowledging.

I'm of the mindset that therapy is not only for seasons of crisis, but for the times when we desire increased understanding of our own story, trauma, patterns, and relationships. I am skilled at worked with young adults (college-age), moms, middle-aged men and women, who are seeking to make sense of their responses, the cycles they find themselves-in, and seeking out new narratives.

Even when working with individuals we acknowledge that we have families of origin, partners, friends, family, children, siblings, and other micro and macro community relationships that affect us. Our past experiences inform the way we see the world and our relationships. We often find ourselves in negative patterns with people we love and therapy can provide tools to assist in finding new ways to interact and potentially lead to deeper, more connected relationships.