IN-PERSON IN ROSEVILLE ONLINE ACROSS CA & TX
Relational Leadership Therapy
Therapy for co-founders and leadership pairs. Specializing in the conflict patterns, avoidance dynamics, and relational blind spots that get in the way of leading well together.
You and your colleague are both capable, committed, and genuinely want things to work.
But somewhere along the way, the working relationship started getting in the way of the work itself.
Maybe conversations that should be straightforward turn into standoffs. One of you goes quiet when things get tense while the other pushes harder. You leave meetings feeling talked over, dismissed, or like you've been spending more energy managing around each other than actually working together. Maybe you've tried to address it — a direct conversation, a leadership consultant, a team offsite — and things improve for a while. But the pattern keeps coming back.
That's usually a sign that the issue isn't a communication skill gap. It's relational.
This work is a good fit if:
You and your colleague are both willing to look honestly at your own part in the dynamic — not just what the other person is doing wrong
You've already invested in leadership development or organizational consulting and want to go a layer deeper
You believe that how people relate to each other matters, and that the relational health of your leadership has real downstream effects on your teams and culture
You're experiencing repeated conflict patterns, communication breakdowns, or a growing disconnection that's starting to affect your ability to lead together
You want to understand what's actually happening between you and change it. Not just find a better workaround
This is not crisis intervention or mediation. Both leaders need to be voluntary participants who are genuinely open to doing the work.
When Leadership Consulting Isn't Enough
Leadership consultants are skilled at what they do and there's a version of this problem they can absolutely help with.
Organizational structure, team dynamics, communication frameworks, leadership development — that work matters and it makes a real difference.
But sometimes the pattern between two leaders persists even after good consulting work. The skills are there. The awareness is there. And the same dynamic keeps showing up anyway.
That's usually a sign the issue is therapeutic in nature, not consultative. It's rooted in something more personal. These are the relational blueprints each leader brings into the room, the triggers that get activated under pressure, the ways past experiences quietly shape present behavior. That layer requires a different kind of expertise.
This is where I come in. Not to replace the consulting relationship, but to work the layer underneath it. The one that's outside the scope of what leadership consulting is trained to address.
With this work you'll walk away with more than a set of communication techniques.
You'll be able to have hard conversations — without them derailing into defensiveness, withdrawal, or escalation
You'll recognize when your own patterns are at play — and have the self-awareness to manage yourself before your personal stuff manages you
You'll stay grounded under pressure — maintaining an emotionally calm and present leadership stance even when things get tense
You'll take real accountability — not as a performance, but because you can actually see your own moves in the conflict cycle and choose differently
You'll feel genuinely heard and respected — and so will they
What the Work Looks Like
Relational Leadership Therapy is short-term work, typically 2 to 5 sessions, depending on the complexity of the pattern and where you both are starting from.
Because the dynamic lives between two people, we almost always work in some combination of individual and joint sessions. I'll meet with each of you separately and together, and I'll personalize the structure based on what your specific situation calls for.
We start by getting a clear picture of the pattern — what each of you does, what it triggers in the other, and where it's coming from. From there, we do the real work: interrupting the cycle, understanding the relational roots behind it, and building something that actually holds up when things get hard.
I'll be direct with you about what I'm seeing. I'll challenge you with care when it serves you. And I'll hold both of you with respect throughout the process.
The longer this waits, the more it costs you.
Most high-achievers don't want to spend six months slowly chipping away at something they could address head-on. Intensives are private, one-on-one, and designed to do in a few days what traditional therapy takes months to reach — if it gets there at all.
If you'd rather go deep and get moving, that's what intensives are built for. 1, 2, & 3-day formats available.
explore couples intensives
The dynamic between you can shift and it doesn't take long to begin.
Get in touch to take the first step together.
Frequently asked questions
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This is therapy, offered under my LMFT license. That distinction matters — it means we're not limited to surface-level strategy. We can look beneath the behaviors to the relational patterns and personal history shaping how you each show up. It also means we can utilize powerful modalities like Accelerated Resolution Therapy if needed. The depth of that work is often what makes the difference, especially when you've already tried other approaches.
Relational Life Therapy takes this on directly, and you end up with both deep insight and practical tools. In RLT, we’ll confront patterns of entitlement or avoidance, and you’ll be challenged to take responsibility for your own reactions and regulation.
In RLT, we also work on accepting the imperfections of humans and relationships. The fact is, there are certain “bitter pills” in marriage: realities and truths that can be hard to swallow. It can sometimes be lonely or disappointing. RLT doesn’t pretend things will always feel good or easy; instead, it helps you decide what’s workable and what’s not—and then what to do about it.
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Not at all. In fact, that combination often produces the best results. Leadership consulting tends to focus on organizational strategy, team structure, and skill-building. Relational Leadership Therapy addresses the relational layer underneath: the patterns, triggers, and dynamics that strategy alone can't fully reach. The two approaches complement each other. If you're a consultant coordinating a referral, I'm happy to connect briefly so our work stays aligned.
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Yes. This isn't something one person can drag the other into and expect it to work. Both participants need to come in voluntarily and open to looking at their own part in the dynamic. They don't need to be perfectly enthusiastic, some ambivalence is normal, but they do need to be genuinely willing. If you're not sure whether that's the case, we can talk it through in a consultation.
As a therapist, I have a real-life, practical, and straightforward approach. This means I will be actively involved in our sessions, helping you to achieve your goals.
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Relational Leadership Therapy is designed as short-term work, typically 2 to 5 sessions. The exact number depends on the complexity of the pattern and where you're both starting. You won't be left wondering whether there's an end in sight.
Many couples see meaningful movement much sooner — especially those who opt for intensives.
My goal is to help you meet your goals as soon as possible. As long as counseling continues to be helpful, I’ll be here to support you.
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Yes. Standard therapy confidentiality applies. If you're an organization or consultant coordinating the referral, I'm happy to discuss what that looks like in practice before we begin. A release may be required for payment, but the details of the sessions are not shared.
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You can reach out through the contact page to schedule a free 20-minute consultation. It's a good chance to ask questions, share a bit about the situation, and figure out whether this is the right fit.
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Sessions are available in person in Roseville, CA and online for clients located in California and Texas. On site sessions may be available in Roseville and surrounding areas.
Research indicates it may be more effective than Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) due to its increased precision.
Curious? Click here to learn more.