Many of the adult children I work with somewhat carry the same paradox: They feel suffocated by closeness, yet deeply lonely in the distance they've created to protect themselves. For many, distance feels like survival. "If I get too close, I will lose myself." The boundary may feel somewhat harsh, but it serves a purpose. It protects them from reactions, expectations, disappointments, and old wounds that still feel too painful to revisit. Then, as parents age, another emoti

I have made it a habit to write (with AI's help in polishing my language). To write about the moments in therapy that move me, that remind me why I do the work I do, and how change is often subtle before it becomes visible. This is one such story — of a man who spent fifty years carrying the weight of a world since he was eight. Let's call him Sherlock. When he first came to therapy 3 years ago, he was trapped in a painful marriage to a partner struggling with substance addi

One year ago at the graduation of completing the advance intensive course, I made a stronger commitment to deepen my understanding and application of Multigenerational Family Therapy in my work with individuals, couples, and families. Six years into learning this modality, I am grateful to now be certified as a multigenerational family therapist by Prof Dr. Maurizio Andolfi. This journey has stretched and grounded me in equal ways. It has deepened how I see others and myself

In my therapy work, I often advocate for family therapy, to work directly with the person my clients have struggles with, to invite the family. When a client says, “My parents won’t come,” or “My teenager refuses,” I don’t hear a scheduling problem. I hear resistance. Often, it is protection—against shame, blame, vulnerability, or fear. Sometimes, it is protection against one more demand in a life already too heavy. If I meet that resistance too directly, I meet the defences.