Relationships & Attachment

Tied up in knots, the feeling you get when you're struggling in a relationship.

Secure. Anxious-Preoccupied. Dismissive-Avoidant. Fearful-Avoidant.

These are attachment styles you might have heard of - maybe even identified with.

Forming attachments is a primary human need. As babies, it's what keeps us safe. How we learn to attach depends on many things: our personality, our caregivers, our culture, the events we live through. We keep adapting to meet that need throughout our lives.

Often, we're unaware of these patterns - unaware of the different ways they show up, and how they can fluctuate depending on who we're with or the situation we're in.

Individuals

Psychodynamic therapy looks beyond surface-level behaviors to get at the root. Together, we'll explore these unconscious patterns and make sense of them in your body, your mind, your emotions, and your daily interactions. Building that awareness creates the deeper understanding that leads to lasting change - and opens space for something different.

Couples

Couples are navigating two different nervous systems, each learning to react to the other's in its own way. This often gives rise to a pursuer/withdrawer pattern (or a variation of one). The pursuer moves toward conflict; the withdrawer moves away from it. The pattern holds regardless of what the conflict is actually about - each partner reacting in a familiar way, usually trying to preserve both the self and the relationship.

Using Emotionally Focused Therapy and the Gottman Method, I'll help you address these patterns and access the more vulnerable emotions and needs underneath them.

If you're looking for attachment-based, psychodynamic therapy in Los Angeles, I'm an LMFT who helps individuals and couples understand and shift the relational patterns that keep them feeling stuck, disconnected, or chronically unsatisfied in relationships.

Reach out today to learn more or schedule a consultation.