Specialty
Relationships & Self-Worth
When the way you connect keeps hurting more than it should
Relationships are where we feel most alive, and where we can feel most exposed. If you find yourself anxious in dating, bracing for abandonment, repeating the same painful patterns with different people, or quietly believing you are not enough, you are far from alone. These struggles are some of the most common reasons people seek therapy. *
Often the pattern is easier to see than it is to change. You may already know that you overthink every text, that you pick partners who cannot fully show up, or that you say yes when you mean no. Insight alone rarely shifts these patterns, because they usually took shape early, in the relationships that first taught you what closeness and worth feel like. *
Our psychologists work at that deeper level. Rather than offering communication tips alone, we help you understand and rework the emotional patterns underneath, so that trust, boundaries, and confidence begin to feel natural instead of forced. With the right support, the way you relate to others, and to yourself, can genuinely change. *
Common types of relationships & self-worth we treat
Clinicians who specialize in relationships & self-worth
Our psychologists share deep experience with relational patterns and self-worth, and each brings a distinct angle. Reading their descriptions can help you feel who fits your situation best. *
EMDR · Hypnosis · Psychodynamic
Dr. Zala works with people whose relationships keep replaying old wounds, including fear of abandonment, anxious attachment, and patterns rooted in difficult family dynamics. She helps you connect present-day relationship anxiety to where it began, then loosen its grip. Many of her patients describe finally understanding why they choose who they choose. *
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EMDR · Hypnosis · Psychodynamic
Dr. Zylstra focuses on the inner side of relationship struggles, including shame, self-blame, difficulty trusting, and the sense of being fundamentally not enough. He is a strong fit if your relationship patterns are tangled up with how you see yourself. His work helps rebuild both self-worth and the capacity for closeness. *
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ACT · EMDR · Hypnosis
Dr. Faiwiszewski has particular strength in dating anxiety, including overthinking, fear of rejection, and the exhausting vigilance that can make dating feel like a performance. She helps anxious daters find steadiness so that connection becomes possible again. *
Full profile →Modalities
Therapy approaches that may help
We integrate these techniques, custom-tailored to you, in the order your nervous system can use first.
Selected Research
- 2018Adult attachment as a predictor and moderator of psychotherapy outcome: A meta-analysisJ Clin Psychol · PubMed ↗
- 2021Compassion-focused therapies for self-esteem: A systematic review and meta-analysisPsychol Psychother · PubMed ↗
- 2023Effect of psychotherapy for adult depression on self-esteem: A systematic review and meta-analysisJ Affect Disord · PubMed ↗
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I know whether my struggles belong under "Relationships & Self-Worth"?
- If your pain centers on how you connect with others, anxiety in dating, difficulty trusting, repeating relationship patterns, or on how you see yourself, self-criticism, people-pleasing, low confidence, this is the right area. The two usually intertwine, which is why we treat them together. *
- Do you see individuals, or is this couples therapy?
- This specialty is individual therapy focused on your relational patterns and self-worth. You do not need to be in a relationship, and many people do this work specifically between relationships so the next chapter can be different. *
- Why do the same relationship problems keep happening to me?
- Recurring patterns almost always point to attachment templates formed early in life, which quietly shape who feels compelling, how you handle closeness, and what you tolerate. The good news is that these templates are learned and can be reworked in therapy, not just understood. *
- How is your approach different from typical talk therapy?
- Insight is the starting point, not the destination. Alongside traditional psychotherapy we use EMDR, clinical hypnosis, and somatic and experiential therapy to change the emotional and body-level responses that drive relationship and self-worth patterns, and we sequence those modalities deliberately for each person. *
- Can therapy help with self-worth if my life looks fine on paper?
- Yes. A gap between external success and internal self-doubt is one of the most common presentations we see. Feeling inadequate despite evidence to the contrary is a learned pattern with identifiable roots, and it responds well to treatment that reaches those roots. *
- How do I choose the right psychologist for this?
- Read the clinician descriptions on this page and the subspecialty pages; each psychologist describes the specific angle they work from. If you are unsure, a free consultation call can help match you based on what you are experiencing. Fit matters, and we take it seriously. *