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Restoring Stability and Peace in High-Conflict Systems
When communication breaks down completely, it rarely happens in a vacuum. Whether it is a contentious divorce, a bitter dispute over a family estate, an agonizing disagreement over an aging parent's medical care, or a co-parenting dynamic trapped in a cycle of reactivity, the core issue is the same: high-conflict communication.
Traditional talk therapy often falls short in these moments because it focuses purely on open-ended emotional processing while the active crisis continues to escalate outside the therapy room.
At Healthy Boundaries & Assertiveness Counseling, my entire practice is built to address this exact friction. Utilizing a specialized blend of clinical psychotherapy and my background in CCR Performance-Based Mediation, I help individuals, couples, and family cohorts dismantle destructive communication loops, establish functional boundaries, and protect their peace.
Specializations in High-Conflict Family Dynamics
High-Conflict Divorce & Co-Parenting Challenges
Navigating a contentious split requires elite emotional regulation. I work with individuals to manage the intense psychological pressure of litigation, de-escalate communication with their soon-to-be ex-spouse, and transition away from chronic conflict into a structured parallel parenting model. By learning to disengage and manage households independently, we protect your sanity and build a secure, peaceful home for your children.
Learn More about Divorce Stabilization Support
Blended Family & Stepfamily Integration
Merging two distinct family systems frequently triggers intense role confusion, parenting disagreements, and a spike in hostile backlash from an outside ex-spouse. I help couples engineer a clear operational infrastructure for their stepfamily, map out step-parent jurisdictions, and build a unified front that protects their new marriage and restores household peace.
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Family Asset & Inheritance Friction
The distribution of estates, trusts, and multi-generational capital frequently re-activates deep-seated sibling rivalries and family drama. I help adult beneficiaries navigate the emotional undercurrents of asset disputes, manage co-trustee friction, and protect their sanity during high-stakes financial transitions.
Learn More about Family Asset Dispute Therapy
Eldercare & Aging Parent Conflict
The sudden role reversal of caring for an aging parent brings immense stress and ambiguous grief. I work with adult children to manage caregiver burnout, navigate sibling disagreements over medical transitions, and separate childhood family roles from current caregiving realities.
Learn More about Eldercare Conflict Therapy
Court-Involved Individual & Family Services
Designed for clients navigating active domestic relations proceedings in the Cook County court system. I provide objective, individual psychotherapy, co-parenting counseling, and therapeutic supervised visitations. My approach focuses on establishing clear boundaries, de-escalating adult conflict, and helping parents build a unified, cooperative front for their children.
Learn More about Court-Involved Individual & Family Services
Reclaim Control of Your Footprint
You cannot control how a high-conflict individual behaves, but you can completely control how you respond, how much access they have to your peace, and how you protect your mental health. Whether you are an individual drowning in relational friction or a legal or medical professional looking to refer a highly reactive client family to a specialized clinical resource, let's clear the path forward.
Located in North Center, Chicago, IL
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A Note on Using Insurance for Couples and Family Therapy
At Healthy Boundaries & Assertiveness Counseling, I believe that healing relational dynamics, whether between partners, parents, or adult family members, is vital work. To ensure total transparency regarding your care and financial investment, it is important to understand how health insurance intersects with couples and family psychotherapy.
In short: I do not bill health insurance for sessions that are primarily focused on relationship improvement, communication repair, or family conflict resolution.
The Requirement of "Medical Necessity"
Health insurance operates strictly on a medical model. For an insurance company to reimburse a therapy session the treatment must be deemed "medically necessary." This means the primary purpose of the session must be to treat a diagnosed mental health disorder in an individual family member (the Identified Patient).
Relationship Distress is Not an Illness
The standard diagnostic codes for relationship conflict or communication issues (known as Z-codes) are categorized by insurance companies as lifestyle situations, not mental health disorders. Consequently, commercial insurance panels almost universally deny coverage for couples therapy when the primary goals are relational.