Susan Garner, LMFT

I am an experienced Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist dedicated to helping individuals and couples become the very best version of themselves. Therapy clients have all been emotionally and psychologically wounded whether over time in families or traumatic events. These wounds can be invisible to others but manifest in troubled relationships, self-destructive behaviors, lack of confidence and self-esteem. I collaborate with clients to identify, understand and process deeply held, often unconscious, faulty beliefs, narratives that once served but now diminish quality of life.

I have been a practicing therapist for 20 years and have worked with a diverse population: 18 - 65+ years of age, clients with psychotic disorders (schizophrenia and bipolar I and II,) as well as mood and adjustment disorders, anxiety, panic attacks, relationship problems, life transitions, grief and loss, traumas related to sexual and physical abuse, chaotic/unstable early home environments from divorce, substance abuse, abandonment, death of a parent, or even parents with serious and undiagnosed mental health problems.
The environment that we grew up in shapes and influences who we become as adults. Many clients who seek therapy are unhappy, know their lives are not working in important ways but don't know how to change this. Without understanding our faulty and distorted narratives (generally learned very early) including assumptions, projections, beliefs internalized very early in our lives, we cannot change. These influence our relationship with ourselves and are then perpetuated in all aspects of our lives and often manifest as low self-esteem, lack of confidence, "imposter syndrome", troubled personal relationships, anxiety, depression, panic disorders and emotional instability. Additionally, poor boundaries and ineffective communication skills lead to greater confusion, disappointment and interpersonal conflict.
My work has evolved into helping clients understand and transform limiting and distorted beliefs, traumatic wounding that contribute to low self-esteem, lack of confidence, counterproductive behaviors and patterns in relationships. Though the process of change and personal growth may at times be uncomfortable as painful memories emerge, it is important to remember that this is the path through... making the unconscious, conscious allows the possibility for revising deeply held beliefs formed in childhood that helped us survive but now constrain and limit our aliveness, disrupt interpersonal relationships.
I am influenced by and draw from a variety of therapeutic disciplines and approaches that facilitate personal growth and healing. These include: Psychodynamic traditions, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Family Systems Theory, Insight Meditation, and Somatic based therapies. My couples work is influenced by the following experts in couples therapy: Esther Perel, Dr. Sue Johnson, Ellyn Bader, PhD, Dr.'s John and Julie Gottman and Harville Hendrix, PhD.