I am passionate about helping people create loving, supportive, and affirming relationships. Building strong relational foundations with a current or future partner requires creating a solid foundation by laying bricks and each person must be willing to work on resolving lingering pain from the past. With love and compassion, I help partners heal past hurts as they move towards emotional connection and enhanced sexual intimacy.
I have a Ph.D. in Couple and Family Therapy from Antioch University New England where my research addresses the needs of and how to create successful culturally-relevant interventions for couples of color. I am a Certified Imago Relationship Therapy, Workshop Presenter and Imago Faculty Candidate. Additionally I teach Master’s level students at Antioch University.
I also have a M.Div. degree from Harvard Divinity School and a MFT degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Antioch University New England. I was a clinical intern at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.; and Cedars Sinai Hospital Hospital in Los Angeles, CA. Integrating family systems, spirituality and clients’ religious beliefs helps clients implicit and explicitly explore and resolve concerns.
I have spent over 22 years working in the Mental Health Profession with children, couples and families in, Community Mental Health, Outpatient Clinics, Hospitals, Churches, and Women’s Prison System.
Over the past 15 years, I have been working exclusively with couples. My areas of expertise include: Infidelity, Racial distress, Chronic Conflict, Sex & Intimacy.
I have worked with thousands of couples worldwide. In 2009, I co-Founded Imago Relationships-Providence, LLC with my spouse of 16 years. Imago Providence is dedicated to helping couples create an extraordinary, life-giving marriages and relationships.
My personal journey has endured many obstacles, loss, hardships, love, laughter, heartfelt relationality and adventure. I see myself as a student of life on a continuous quest to practice social justice, cultural humility, emotional intelligence and mature love. I am a clinical member of IRNA, AAMFT, RIAAMFT and AAPC in good standing.
Two people decide to heal, and have the power to, “bridge” the gulf of pain, trauma and loneliness unearthed by an affair.
Weekly sessions may not be the answer. A Couples’ Intensive can be a definitive, life altering experience.
Imago Therapy can help couples grow together by using conflict as a tool to heal and grow.
We regularly offer group workshops that teach couples the skill and tools to create better connections with each other.
A couples intensive offers a way to jump in and really get a sense of what can be done to change the course of a relationship that seems to be in trouble.
Sample schedule one day plus
Sample schedule for the two-day-plus intensive:
What would we hope to accomplish in this accelerated time frame?
The first 120 min session is your opportunity to talk about your relationship, both the ways you feel stuck now in the present as well each of your views about what brought you together. As you tell your story and share the pain of what has gone wrong, we will be tracking the relational dance between you and referencing what we now know as the science of love relationships to help you make sense of your experience.
We follow this initial meeting with two 75min individual sessions so that we can learn a little about each of your histories and get a sense of your individual concerns about the relationship.
The remainder of day one, we come together to really dig into the first phase of treatment, reducing reactivity conflict cycle. What this means is that we try to understand the relationship pattern that continues to undermine your connection, specifically by exploring what emotions are driving the behaviors that pull you apart.
If we have the next day to continue our work, we will take steps towards finding new ways to strengthen the bond between you by expressing the fears that get in the way, and voicing each of your needs with a newly emerging vulnerability.
A couples intensive offers a way to jump in and really get a sense of what can be done to change the course of a relationship that seems to be in trouble.
It is often advisable to follow up your intensive experience with ongoing couples therapy, as there is a need to integrate the learning and skills over time. If you are coming from a distance and cannot find a skilled therapist in your home location, we will discuss options as we wrap up our time together.
How do we know if a couple intensive is right for us?
A pre-screening interview by phone with both members of the couple on the line is conducted prior to making the commitment or paying a deposit. If we decide to move forward, an extensive initial meeting is scheduled where we go in-depth about your relationship.
What are the fees and how is the payment made?
The cost for a 7.5 hr one-day-plus intensive is $2,200, while the cost for the two-day-plus intensive is $4,000. Payments can be made by check or credit card. A deposit of 50% is required to hold the date with the balance due the day prior to meeting. Fees will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
Contact us for availability:
Phone: 401-782-7899 Email:imagopaula@gmail.com
Yael and I are thinking of everyone during this time of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear about the outcome of the upcoming election. It is our hope that you take comfort in the thought that we have each done what we can to voice our choice with dignity and integrity–phone banking, donating, speaking to friends and…
Tom (his pseudonym) walked into my office, sat down, put his head into his hands and cried out, “I am a liar. I have lied my entire life.” For much of Tom’s life, his lies had to do with his inability to navigate his inner life and therefore he was in a battle with himself.…
Delving into self-exploration paves the way for genuine living (and loving). This introspective journey involves unraveling the complex tapestry of our personalities and beliefs, reconnecting us with the essence of who we are. That part of us that is unbroken and whole. Through this process of peeling the layers of the onion, we unearth dormant…
Adults often tell me, “I don’t have any fears.” I think, “really?!” Much of what is going on today both politically and personally is rooted in fear. In this blog, I’m going to talk in depth about fear and encourage you to think about and respond to fear. Expressing fear (or vulnerability) requires trusting that…
