How can you tell whether you are authentically in love with another person or falling in love with love? Love can be exciting, but sometimes we can use love like a drug and cause ourselves and others harm. Romantic obsession, use of fantasy, and cyberstalking are all signs of this painful pattern. Sometimes, we even […]

What does it mean to live authentically? The root of the word authentic means original, and it is the same root as the word author.  How do we write the unique stories of our own lives?  Being authentic means coming from a genuine place within and without, when our actions and words are consistent with […]

Do you ever feel damned if you do or damned if you don’t?  According to Oxford dictionary, a double bind is defined as a situation in which a person is confronted with two irreconcilable demands or a choice between two undesirable courses of action. Double-binds may be emotionally distressing and can lead to shame or […]

Valerie leads a virtual couple intensive for Onsite Workshops in Cumberland Furnace, TN.  For more information visit Onsite.

In time for Mother’s Day, we will discover what gets in the way of forgiving our mothers for past hurts. As a group, we will explore ways to come to terms with feelings of resentment from childhood, especially if we did not receive the care we needed. Please join us for our May open psychodrama […]

Valerie will present an experiential workshop at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy Couple Therapy Training Program. The workshop will focus on psychodramatic technique of the warm-up and how to utilize them with couples.

In the spirit of Father’s Day, this workshop explores our primary relationship with our fathers, and how it sets us up for feelings of safety or insecurity in our lives. We will explore ways to re-parent any of our old wounds. Please join us for our June open psychodrama workshop, Father…My First Protector. No previous […]

Valerie will present an experiential workshop at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy Couple's Therapy Training Program. The workshop will focus on psychodramatic techniques of doubling, role reversal and empty chair with couples.

The inner critic comes out in the everyday putdowns—the negative self-talk we use to discourage ourselves. Judgment is the subtlest form of negativity. If you compare yourself to others, you are not only judging the other person, but also yourself. How can we concentrate on bettering ourselves and our lives without judgment and negative self-talk? Please […]