Coping with Changes and Challenges

Counseling Time with Elizabeth

Elizabeth Einstein, MA/LMFT is a Marriage & Family Therapist who has long counseled families in transition – those moving through separation, divorce and remarriage. A clinical member of the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (click on Therapist Locator using zipcode 14850 for profile), my private practice is in Ithaca, NY. As you move through your challenging Stepfamily Journey, you can work with me privately, or through telephone coaching.

Many life transitions can be challenging!

Things change! And when change involves families—illness, death, job loss, infidelity, recovery issues, separation, divorce and remarriage—challenges can overwhelm any family. While change can be good and transforming, for most people, it's neither an easy, nor smooth, process. During major changes, often a family crisis becomes the impetutus for counseling.

My clinical training is rooted in family systems thinking–that is, the behavior of each family member affects the others. My basic belief about people is that every human being is capable of change and has all the resources within to do so. But often, a guide–my role with you–is helpful in accessing your strengths and unconscious destructive thinking patterns. Rather than viewing people who struggle with life changes as "sick" or "weak," I believe that seeking support and guidance reflects strength and a desire to find new ways to relate.  And I believe that one's inability to manage relationships, or make necessary changes, is rooted in our first family–the one in which we grew up. Although parents did the best they could with who they were at the time, these first teachers, may have lacked the skills to teach us what we needed to develop as healthy adults. If we're still using using those same, outdated childhood skills, our relationships may not be what we would like to have achieved.

As your therapist, my role is to guide you as you explore the challenges in your life that keep you from meeting your full potential.

Although not exclusively so, much of my work is with divorcing adults and their children, single parents, and with remarried families. Divorce and living in a stepfamily holds many challenges, especially early on; but when people take time to resolve old losses, examine expectations, and get new information and skills, your new stepfamily can be a joyful one!

If you'd like to consider me as your guide on your emotional and spiritual journey, we can examine that possibility. If you don't live in the Finger Lakes region, I do stepfamily counsulting or coaching by telephone.

Call at (607)272-2552 or e-mail eaestepkid@msn.com with "counseling request" in the subject box so your request isn't deleted.