Susan Stork
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist - LCPC, LPCC, LPC, CST
:: Couples ::
Relationships are the foundation of our existence. They can support us, sustain us, and provide us with a sense of security. Are you struggling in your relationships? Feeling overwhelmed by your emotions, self-critical, disconnected from your body, unhappy, overly anxious / stressed, and/or hopeless about your future?
In my work I help people to improve their relationships while simultaneously addressing underlying experiences of anxiety, depression, roadblocks and trauma. I provide a safe space where healing can happen & clients can discover and experience new possibilities within themselves and their relationships. We are created for connection, yet sometimes these very connections cause us pain.
Through our work together my clients report feeling an increased sense of self confidence & awareness, appreciation for life, compassion for self and others, ability to clearly communicate, & capacity to tolerate their emotions and meet life’s challenges as they arise.
Finding the right match in a therapist is essential to beginning this uniquely personal process. Therapy sometimes gets a bad reputation when there is a “sense of disconnect” between client & therapist, which can make therapy feel like another struggle. Life is challenging enough. My style is warm & interactive with a big dose of common sense.
I am passionate about helping couples create secure functioning partnerships based on healthy communication, connection and play. My work with couples is based on Stan Tatkin’s Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT), which combines attachment theory, neurobiology and arousal regulation to help couples better understand their patterns of relating and how to support each other more successfully.
As a PACT Therapist (Level 2), my work is experiential and strategic. Looking at the ways we were programmed to connect in childhood, I help partners understand these processes and adapt new ways communicate and grow as a couple. With a deeper understanding of each other, I support couples in navigating their struggles more successfully, deepening their connection, and having more fun together. This therapy is short term and goal focused, based on strong research. As with my other work, I weave in my style, which is direct, empathic and playful.
Because of the experiential nature of this therapy, sessions are longer, lasting between 90 minutes and 3 hours. We are able to make significant changes in these longer sessions, and as a result we often do not have to meet as frequently.
“In our couples work together, we will focus on creating a true secure partnership, based on principles of justice, fairness and sensitivity. The work is collaborative; with a commitment to one another’s well-being to resolve conflict. I see breakdowns in long-term relationships as a non-pathological process. We will build understanding of how early coping strategies lead to current reenactments of our historical relationship patterns; resulting in misattunements, misunderstandings, repeated cycles of injurious behavior, and failures in repair. In this experiential approach to therapy, you will practice new ways of relating and repairing, to create a more supportive, meaningful, and secure relationship. Whatever the conflict, your experience that your partner has your back will give you the strength and energy to better manage your concerns.”
*** Susan Stork, LCPC, NCC is currently enrolled in a three-year Couples Therapy training program with Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, the founder of A Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT), who developed the advanced PACT system to offer effective treatment for the most complex, challenging couples.
For more information about PACT, go to: http:thepactinstitute.comdividedpagewhat-is-pact
:: Individuals ::
Do you have a purpose? Do you have a sense of belonging? Do you struggle with these questions? Let me help. My work with clients is based on developing skills and new ways of thinking in order to face challenges and gain control of problems.
I strive to know and understand my clients, so that I can help them gain insight and find solutions that will work for them long-term. I work to help clients to better realize their full human potential.
I believe in the healing process of becoming aware of and connecting with our inner selves. Clients have described me as “REAL, genuine, observant, engaging, and compassionate counselor” with an ability to quickly put them at ease.
Before going into private practice, I productively worked to reform and empower youth and adults to ask for more accountability in public education, and within community based systems.Focused on awareness of unproductive ways and systems of stress, I bring a mix of compassion, hope, and a clear therapeutic approach for helping clients on their own journeys.
I believe that therapy is an integrative and interactive process where the client and therapist work closely together to uncover what is currently not working while, striving to move towards growth and a new direction so you can live a more fulfilling life. My goal as the therapist is to help you find your own personal freedom, independence and learn to live a life of meaning and purpose.
Skills and Expertise
Abandonment
Abortion Issues
Abuse / Survivors of Abuse
Academic Underachievement
Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions
Adjustment to College
Adoption / Foster Care Issues
Adult
Aging and Geriatric Issues
Anxiety
Asperger's Syndrome
athletes
Attachment Issues
Attention Deficit (ADHD)
Autism Spectrum
Blended Family Issues
Breakups
Career Counseling
Caregiver Issues or Stress
Codependency
college age
Commitment Issues
Communication Problems
Compulsive Spending and Shopping
Control Issues
Coping Mechanisms
Couple Counseling
Couples therapy
Creative Blocks
Depression
Divorce
Emotional Disturbance
Emotional Intelligence
Entitlement
expats
Family Conflict
Family of Origin Issues
Fear
Fertility Issues
Forgiveness
Gay Issues
grief
Guilt
Health Illness and Medical Issues
Highly Sensitive Persons
HIV / AIDS
Identity Issues
Impulse Control Disorders
Inadequacy
Infertility
Infidelity and Affair Recovery
Isolation
Jealousy
LGBTQ
Life Purpose
Loss
Loss or Grief
Marital Therapy
Marriage Couseling
Mens Issues and Problems
Midlife Crisis
Mindfulness based therapy
Multicultural Concerns
Navigating Identity in Relationships
Obsessions and Compulsions
Obsessive-Compulsive (OCD)
Parenting
Peer Relationships
Perfectionism
Premarital Counseling
Relationship Issues
Self Esteem
Stress
Transgender Issues
Trauma
Video Game Addiction
Women's issue
Treatment Orientation
Acceptance Commitment Therapy
Couple and Family Systems Therapy
Eclectic
Existential
Family Systems Therapy
Family/Marital Therapy
Feminist
Gottman Method Couples Therapy
Health/Wellness-based
Interpersonal
Jungian
Marital Couple/ Family Communication Therapy
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
PACT
Person Centered Therapy
Psychodynamic
psychotherapy
Rogerian
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
IFS
Mindfulness
Meditation
Somatic
Trauma Focused Therapy
Modality