Deep work, for the two of you.
Some things don’t move in a 50-minute couples session. You’ve had the same fight more times than you can count. You can both explain your patterns. And still, something between you stays stuck.
That’s where this work comes in.
Starting in April 2027, I’m working with a small number of couples at a time, in focused containers of 12 weeks to 6 months. We meet for longer sessions, two to three hours at a time, and move through three phases together:
Preparation, Medicine Work, and Integration.
This is for a season of your life, not your whole life. We go deep, we do the work, and then you go live it.
For couples who want to go deeper, and couples in crisis.
Going deeper: Maybe nothing is wrong, exactly. You love each other, and you want more: more honesty, more intimacy, more of the connection you had at the start, or more than you’ve ever had. We look at what each of you brings into the relationship, and make room for the parts of you that usually stay hidden from each other.
In crisis: Maybe you’re recovering from infidelity. Maybe you’re grieving something unbearable, or carrying infertility or pregnancy loss together. Maybe you’re standing at the edge of divorce and need to know whether there’s a way back. We slow things down, help each of your nervous systems settle enough to actually hear each other, and look at what happens when your two systems collide. Containers include long joint sessions and may include some individual sessions for each partner.
This isn’t the right container if there’s active abuse or active addiction in the relationship, or if one partner is being pulled in against their will. Both of you have to want to be here.
What is the process?
Preparation
We get to know each other, and I get to know each of your systems, and the one you’ve built together. What’s bringing you here, what parts of you are showing up, what your body is holding, and what you want to be different when we’re done. This is also where we set intentions, build tools for regulation, and make sure you’re resourced before we go deeper. If you’re doing medicine work, this is when we connect each of you with a prescriber.
Medicine Work
This is the deep end. For many couples, that means ketamine-assisted sessions: together, individually, or a mix of both, depending on what your relationship needs. I’m with you the whole time. For others, the “medicine” is breathwork, meditation, and somatic work that takes you into a non-ordinary state without a substance. Either way, this is where the stuck stuff tends to loosen, and where parts of you that have been hiding finally get to be seen.
Integration
What comes up in the deep end doesn’t mean much until you bring it home. In integration, we make sense of what you experienced, follow up with the parts that showed up, and translate insight into real changes in your relationships, your body, and your daily life. As you get your feet under you, we start meeting less often, so you leave feeling steady, not dropped.
Confidentiality:
What you share with me stays with me. That’s true of all therapy, and it’s true here. (There are a few legal exceptions, like an imminent risk to someone’s safety, and I’ll walk you through every one of them before we begin.)
We live in a small town, and there’s a real chance we’ll end up in the same grocery store aisle. If we do, I won’t come up to you or start a conversation, and most importantly, I will never talk about you to anyone. I keep a low profile here, and since I didn’t grow up in the area, I don’t know everyone. Your work with me stays yours.
For couples, there’s one more layer. If one of you shares something with me in an individual session, I’ll hold it with care. But I won’t keep a secret that undermines the work we’re doing together, like an ongoing affair. If something like that comes up, I’ll help you bring it into the room yourself, in a way that’s as honest and as safe as possible for both of you. We’ll go over this policy, in writing, before we start.
After we finish a container:
The end of our container isn’t the end of your healing. It’s the moment you start living what you’ve learned without me in the room every week.
Once you’ve completed a container, you’re welcome to come back for quarterly check-in sessions. Some people use them to integrate what’s been unfolding since we finished. Some use them for a single medicine session, with prep and integration. Some just like knowing the door is open.
Why psychedelic-assisted therapy?
It’s backed by a growing body of research. In a study of 235 patients across three private practices, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy significantly reduced depression and anxiety, with the biggest gains among people with complex or developmental trauma (Dore et al., 2019). A study of more than 1,800 adults found the improvements in depression, anxiety, and PTSD were still holding six months later (Field Trip Health study, 2023). Cannabis-assisted therapy is newer and less studied, but early published work with complex trauma is promising (Ragnhildstveit et al., 2023).
It’s accessible right now. Ketamine is legal and prescribable today, and adult cannabis use has been legal in Minnesota since August 2023. There’s no clinical trial to qualify for, no traveling out of state, and no IV or infusion clinic. The ketamine I work with is a lozenge that dissolves in your mouth, taken during our session together.
A lot can happen in less time. Research suggests medicine sessions open a window when the brain is more flexible and old patterns loosen more easily. That’s why so much can shift in a few months instead of a few years, and why a focused container can cost less overall than years of weekly therapy. If you don’t want to spend years in couples therapy, or you already know what the two of you need to work through, this work may be a better fit than longer-term, traditional therapy.
About the Medicine:
I’m supportive of expanding legal access to psychedelic medicines for healing. Right now, ketamine and cannabis are the medicines I work with in Minnesota, where I’m licensed. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic with a long safety record, and it can open a door to healing on a deep, non-logical level, the kind of level where talking about it isn’t enough. Cannabis, when used in the right setting and with the right intentions, can be equally effective for management and cessation of mental health symptoms.
Here’s how the medicine process works:
Ketamine is prescribed by a separate medical provider, not by me. After our preparation sessions, I’ll refer you to a prescriber I trust.
The prescriber does their own medical and mental health screening, and they decide whether ketamine is safe for you.
Most people do somewhere between 4 and 8 medicine sessions over the course of our work together.
I’m with you for the entire medicine session, and we follow each one with integration.
Medicine work isn’t required. Some people come in knowing they want it, some decide during preparation, and some decide it’s not for them. All of those are fine. The container works either way.
Moving forward with a prescriber referral is at my clinical discretion, and the prescriber reserves the right to decline to prescribe based on physical and mental health history.
Clients utilizing Cannabis will be responsible for obtaining and providing their own medicine, as it is sold (or prescribed) in Minnesota.
Details
Who I work with
Couples who are navigating:
how I work
I pull from a lot of places, and I use what fits you:
is this a fit?
This container might be right for you if:
It’s probably not the right fit if there’s active abuse or active addiction in your relationship, if you need ongoing weekly support with no end date, or if you need a provider who bills insurance. If that’s you, reach out anyway. I’m happy to help you find someone who is a fit.
What my couples have said about working with me:
No. Healing on your own terms means more than finding the right guide. It means protecting your privacy, being seen as a whole person, and doing this work outside a system that wants to put you in a box. Insurance also wouldn’t cover the session lengths or structure this work needs. Read why I don’t take insurance, and how that benefits you.
No. Ideally, it will be part of our work together, BUT medicine work is an option, not a requirement. Some people come in knowing they want it, some decide during preparation, and some decide it’s not for them. Without ketamine, we go to the deep end through breathwork, meditation, and somatic work instead. The container works either way.
We start by checking in and setting an intention. Then you get comfortable, usually lying down with an eye mask and music, and I stay with you the entire time. The strongest effects of the medicine usually last 60-90 minutes. After that, we spend time talking through what came up while it’s still fresh. You’ll need someone to drive you home, and it’s best to keep the rest of your day open.
It sounds like a lot until you’re in it. Most people tell me the time goes faster than a regular session, because we’re not rushing. The longer format gives your nervous system time to settle, gives us time to go somewhere real, and gives you time to come back to yourself before you leave. We’ll build in breaks, and you can always tell me you need one.
Yes. During couples work, it can be highly beneficial to do individual work at that same time. This can mean that for a short period of your life, you are spending A LOT of time in therapy. The hope is that this temporary investment of time, energy, and money, pays off in dividends.
With your written permission, I’m happy to coordinate with your therapist so we’re all on the same page.
Because some things live below the level of words. You can understand your trauma, name your patterns, and still feel stuck, because the part of you that’s stuck isn’t the part that’s doing the talking. Psychedelics can quiet the protective, overthinking mind long enough for other parts of you to come forward. Research also suggests it opens a window of greater neuroplasticity in the days after a session, when the brain is more open to new patterns.
I’m a licensed therapist, and I’ve also spent a long time in my own dark nights. I wrote a whole book about it, Embrace the Dark. I don’t believe in fixing people. I believe in helping you get to know all of yourself, including the parts you’ve been trying to get rid of. My work brings together parts work, the body, spirituality, and the shadow, without pathologizing any of it. If you’ve ever felt like you were too much, too weird, or too “woo” for a traditional therapist’s office, you’re probably in the right place.