ONLINE THERAPY IN KANSAS, MISSOURI & VERMONT
IN-PERSON THERAPY IN LEAWOOD, KS
Strengthen Relationships and Rediscover Joy
in Midlife
You Blinked And Life Flew By…
How is it possible? One minute you were spending Saturdays at kids’ events and the next, your hair is graying, the kids are gone and you wonder what life is supposed to be like.
Midlife can be tough. It can make you feel sad, frustrated, discouraged, or overwhelmed. like you want to run away and start a new life, or wind back the clock 20 years.
I completely get it because I’m also in midlife. I’ve probably felt many of the same things you are feeling. That’s why I know midlife counseling can help.
Whether you’re missing your kids, questioning your purpose, navigating an unhappy relationship, loving or hating sex, or facing health concerns, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed by the changes that occur in midlife.
I specialize in helping individuals and couples in midlife rediscover purpose, address emotional, physical, and sexual changes, and create a more fulfilling future.
What I Hear from Clients
in Midlife:
✔️ I’m unhappy.
✔️ I think I’m having a midlife crisis.
✔️ I feel like I don’t have a purpose.
✔️ I miss my children and being part of their everyday life.
✔️ I hate my body, my wrinkles, the extra fat around my belly.
✔️ I’m burnt out at work.
✔️ We never do anything fun.
✔️ He watches TV. I want him to spend time with me.
✔️ We don’t talk about anything important.
✔️ I want more friends.
✔️ My adult kids make bad choices and I don’t know how to help.
✔️ Menopause sucks. I can’t sleep. My body feels off.
✔️ Sex is painful.
✔️ She/he never wants to have sex.
✔️ Our sex life isn’t enjoyable.
✔️ I can’t get a hard enough erection.
✔️ My body doesn’t work as well.
✔️ I am dealing with cancer.
✔️ I’m exhausted from caretaking my parents.
✔️ I wish my health was better.
✔️ I’m afraid to die.
✔️ Is this all there is?
Common Midlife Challenges
Midlife ushers in so many new challenges:
✔️ Relationship Struggles: Communication issues, intimacy concerns, and emotional disconnection—especially during long-term relationships or after a significant life event like divorce or illness.
✔️ Unfulfilled Goals & Regrets: Midlife often raises questions such as, "Have I accomplished what I set out to do?" Feelings of regret or fear of unaccomplished goals can create anxiety and a sense of being stuck. Many people experience a midlife crisis, questioning past decisions and feeling uncertain about the future.
✔️ Sexual Health Changes: Addressing challenges like erectile dysfunction, peri-menopause, menopause, and the impact of breast and prostate cancer treatment on intimacy and body image.
✔️ Grief & Loss: Coping with the loss of loved ones, Feeling less physically fit, adjusting to the empty nest, or facing mortality.
✔️ Career Transitions: Feeling stuck or burned out in your career, or navigating a change as you approach retirement.
✔️ Family Changes: Launching adult children, enjoying being grandparents, learning to set boundaries with family members, supporting our aging parents - these are all things we need to manage in midlife.
How Midlife Counseling Can Help You
This is your first time going through midlife. I’ve walked through it with many, many clients. I’d like to make it a little easier for you.
Rebuild Relationships: We can strengthen your relationship with your spouse or partner. This includes enhancing communication, learning to resolve conflict, improving emotional connection, and addressing intimacy concerns. Plus, midlife is a time to nurture relationships with friends and family.
Improve Sexual Health: As a Certified Sex Therapist, I’d love to help you address physical and emotional challenges related to aging, such as erectile dysfunction, peri-menopause, menopause, and the effects of cancer treatments. You can learn to restore intimacy, improve your confidence, and create a healthier, more satisfying sexual life.
Rediscover Purpose: Midlife is a fabulous opportunity for you to reassess your passions and life goals. I can help you navigate career transitions, adjust to retirement, explore new interests, and find clarity about what truly matters to you, whether it’s playing golf, volunteering, or traveling.
Love Yourself: This is a chance for you to focus on building a life that brings YOU joy. This involves setting boundaries and balancing the demands of adult children, and aging parents. It also includes loving your aging body and accepting its limitations.
Adjust to Family Changes and Loss: Becoming an empty nester is both exciting and sad. You miss your adult children, but this is a chance for you to morph your relationship with them into something that merges parenting and friendship.
…. feeling excited and energized about life and your purpose
…. being surrounded by great relationships where you feel loved and valued
…. having fun and living the bucket-list life you always wanted to live
…. enjoying both emotional and sexual intimacy with your spouse or partner
Imagine.
Are You Ready to
Get Started?
If you are ready to tackle midlife, let’s get started with midlife counseling. I want to help you to create YOUR BEST LIFE.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Individual sessions involve us talking about the things that are most important to you. I intentionally create a relaxed, safe and supportive environment so you feel comfortable talking and sharing your thoughts and feelings.
Although I have a rough plan of the roadmap I think is most effective to help you, I gear each session to what you need most to talk about that day.
Typically, we spend time exploring your past and how that impacts your current beliefs and behaviors. We also set mutually agreed upon goals to guide the process, or roadmap we’ll use during therapy to make the life transformation you want.
I believe that therapy is a relationship. I work hard to ensure we are building the type of nonjudgemental connection that will help you find success in therapy. Research shows one of the most important factors in your success is the quality of our relationship.
-
Great question!
I am different from most therapists in that my style is very direct. I share information, offer suggestions and don’t shy away from challenging you to consider making changes to your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Although I always endeavor to be warm and empathetic, I want you to get results. I believe you are paying me for my many years of education and experience.
I am the type of therapist I would want for myself.
-
This varies based on your time and financial resources.
Most of my clients start out weekly and then transition to twice per month and then eventually once per month.
-
Everyone’s therapy experience is unique to them. One of the most important factors in your success is your desire to change. I’ve found that my most successful clients attend sessions on a regular basis and are willing to do exercises and implement suggestions in-between appointments.
Research shows most clients feel much better after 12-15 sessions.
I have clients that meet regularly until they feel they have accomplished the majority of their goals and then return on a quarterly or twice yearly basis for a check-in.
Those desiring to “fast-track” their therapy can opt to participate in a therapy intensive. You can learn more about therapy intensives HERE.
-
Neither is better. Research shows you can achieve the same results from either in-person or online therapy. The choice comes down to personal preference, along with both your and my availability. Many of my online clients prefer the efficiency of not wasting travel time to and from my office. Others prefer the confidentiality of online therapy.
-
Individual sessions typically last 50 - 80 minutes and occur weekly or bi-weekly.
Therapy intensives are intentionally designed to jumpstart your progress and help you to feel better faster. They range from 4 to 8 to weekend intensives and can cover the same ground you would in months of therapy.
I conduct intensives both in-person and online for your convenience.
-
Please contact me to schedule a consultation. Therapy is a special relationship and each person has unique needs. I want to ensure we are the right fit for one another.