Specialties | Dr. Stephanie Kriesberg Licensed Psychologist

Treatment Options

Individualized Therapy Plan for Anxiety

We work together to understand the factors contributing to your anxiety. You'll learn how anxiety works and why it’s been able to take such a hold of your life. Then we’ll develop a treatment plan, tailored to your needs and goals. You’ll learn new skills to practice, based on evidence-based strategies for anxiety, including mindfulness, exposure and response prevention, and acceptance skills.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a tool that helps individuals harness their natural, everyday abilities to go into a state of “trance,” and solve problems. Decades of research have shown that hypnotherapy is a “bridge from stuck to solutions” and is a "vehicle that promotes mastery and self-control” (Lyons, Using Hypnosis with Children, pp. 7 and 9).

Therapy for Adults with Narcissistic Parents

Therapy can help adults with narcissistic parents understand the dynamics of their family of origin, help them feel less stigma and shame about the relationship and themselves, and develop plans to cope with their parents if needed. Most important, you can learn to find yourself. What matters to you? How can you manage your feelings of self-doubt and self-criticism and live life on your own terms?

Therapy for Adult Child - Parent Estrangement

For parents, Adult Child/Parent therapy can help you move from feeling confused and helpless to having a roadmap of steps to take to heal the relationship with your adult child.

Learn More

Are You Looking for Help with Anxiety, Stress or Unhappiness?

Perhaps You:

have panic attacks if you drive too far from home, and want to quit your job every day

have a baby and are terrified to leave her at day care, and cry every day at work

feel unhappy in your marriage, but terrified about what life would be like on your own

were raised by a narcissistic parent (or one you suspect was narcissistic) and feel overwhelmed and alone with the problem

Perhaps Your Child:

can't fall asleep at night unless she sleeps with you, so you don't sleep

clings to you every morning before school, petrified you won’t show up for pick-up, and you are late for work

has a meltdown every evening when it's time to get ready for bed

Perhaps Your Teen:

doesn’t talk to you, breaks down in tears, screams, tells you nothing is wrong, and hasn’t gone to school for 2 weeks

has not seen a friend on a weekend for months, and feels too shy to call anyone

after applying to college, only gets into his “safety school” and feels like a complete failure

Schedule a FREE 15-Minute Phone Consultation

If You're an Adult with a Narcissistic Parent You May:

struggle to set limits with your parent, caught between a sense of loyalty and the need to take care of yourself or your own family

wonder if you are “crazy” because of how interactions with your parent make you feel

may feel terrible or even ashamed when others tell you they are looking forward to spending time with their parents

find you can’t stop hearing your parent’s critical voice, even if he or she has been dead for many years

mostly, you feel alone, and that is almost impossible that anyone else could understand your story

Schedule a FREE 15-Minute Phone Consultation

THERAPY FOR ADULT CHILD- PARENT ESTRANGEMENT

Did you know that research shows that 27% of Americans are estranged from a family member? Ten percent of American parents are cut off from an adult child (from Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them by Karl Pillemer, 2020).

Although family estrangement is a surprisingly common problem, as the parent of an adult child who has gone “no contact” or has minimized contact, you can feel:

Alone and isolated
Ashamed or embarrassed
Terrified you will never again have a relationship with your adult child or grandchildren
Angry and poorly treated
Confused—not knowing what you did wrong
Helpless
Depressed and anxious
Unable to function as you used to
Undeserving of estrangement

And most of all, desperate to have your adult child back in your life.

Adult Child/Parent therapy offers hope to heal the rift. For parents, Adult Child/Parent therapy can help you move from feeling confused and helpless to having a roadmap of steps to heal the relationship with your adult child.

STEPS OF ADULT CHILD/PARENT THERAPY

Education about estrangement.
Reviewing history to understand why this estrangement happened, from your adult child’s perspective.
Helping you write a “letter of amends,” an essential key to opening communication and possible reconciliation.
Dr. Kriesberg, if appropriate, contacting the adult child to open communication and an invitation to meet on their own or with parent/s.
Therapy sessions with the adult child and parent or parents for the purpose of hearing each other and determining if the future can look different from what is happening now.

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that therapy will heal the estrangement with your adult child. However, even if the cut-off does not change, as a parent you will learn ways to understand and grieve your loss. Most importantly, you can find compassion and understanding for yourself. You’ll take steps to move forward in your life, no matter how hard that seems.

Find out if Adult Child/Parent therapy is right for you by contacting Dr. Kriesberg for a free 15-minute consultation.