We are more efficient in pushing buttons and plugging in and less effective in developing and sustaining relationships. We have a firmer understanding of all the Real Housewives of ______________ and a less thorough grasp of who we are and what we truly want from our lives. We are, in a word, overwhelmed and under-touched, at the same time.
Healing. Coping. Finding peace. Enjoying a day. Waking up optimistic. Laughing. Finding a friend who has your back. Taking in deep breaths and being able to sit quietly and find contentment. Holding down your job while juggling motherhood or fatherhood. Making it through high school and having some fun. Learning to tolerate distress for all those bumps and curves.
These are not skills to be taken for granted, but rather they need nurturance, support, and practice to achieve. Negative thoughts and behaviors often interfere with results in the life we’d like to be living. Therapy is one way to enhance our experiences and strengthen our ability to form and sustain relationships. From ‘tweens to aging adults, Dr. Kussin can assist in identifying ways in which we undermine ourselves and in developing confidence in our ability to own the life we’d like to lead. She works with individuals, co-parents and couples and also provides pre-marital therapy.
Adulthood, it turns out, is much harder than we expected. While we readily and regularly disseminate highly personal information to perfect strangers – filling out forms for health insurance, driver’s licenses, bank accounts, and credit cards – we spend far fewer moments of intimacy with loved ones. Somehow, despite all our technological devices, including cell phones, tablets, and televisions, to share our likes and desires, we are more disconnected from one another than ever. This is also true for couples living together (especially following our months navigating the pandemic.)
Adolescence, it turns out, is also no picnic. Issues involving relationships, school pressures, peer pressures, body image, and hormones can grow and grow until they overwhelm and paralyze. Dr. Kussin works with teens and young adults to help offer perspective, problem identification and problem-solving skills, and social skills.
In sum, Dr. Kussin works with individuals and couples who can benefit from both long-term and shorter-term therapy. She uses a strength-based, cognitive behavioral approach whereby she helps individuals identify the ways in which thoughts influence behaviors and helps implement changes that impact life on a positive basis. She is committed to using a practical eye to enhance functioning and in recommending additional resources as needed.