HEALING THROUGH CHANGE
Attachment-based, trauma-informed therapy for individuals and couples. Support for anxiety, relationships, nervous system regulation, and life transitions. Serving clients in Michigan (in-person & virtual) and Hawaii (virtual only).
Your struggle is real. You need a dedicated space to process, grow, and take responsibility for what comes next.
YOU DONT HAVE TO FIGURE THIS OUT ALONE
Maybe you’re:
Feeling lost or unsure about your purpose or direction
Repeating relationship cycles you want to change
Recovering from a breakup
Carrying trauma that still shows up in your body and relationships
Wanting deeper intimacy but unsure how to get there
Trying to reconnect with yourself after years of caregiving
Navigating anxiety that feels constant or hard to quiet
Therapy is a place to slow things down, understand what’s happening, and get support that actually helps.
What is attachment-based therapy and how does it work?
I’m the Founder and Clinical Director of Adaptations Therapy Institute, a fully licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and I believe therapy should feel safe, thoughtful, effective, and human. My work is grounded in attachment-based and trauma-informed care, with a focus on helping people navigate real life with more clarity, compassion, and security in themselves.
You don’t need to have everything figured out to start. I’m here to help you take the next step, and I look forward to supporting you.
How do attachment styles affect adult relationships?
Attachment styles influence how people experience trust, intimacy, conflict, and emotional closeness throughout adulthood. Someone with an anxious attachment style may worry about rejection or seek constant reassurance. Someone with an avoidant attachment style may pull away when relationships become emotionally intense. Others may find themselves moving between both patterns depending on the relationship.
They are often adaptations that developed in earlier relationships and continued because they once helped you feel safe. Understanding your attachment style can make relationship patterns feel less confusing and provide a starting point for creating healthier ways of connecting.
SERVICES
Individual Therapy
Anxiety, trauma, life transitions, burnout, and personal growth.
Couples Therapy
Conflict, disconnection, trust issues, co-parenting, and communication patterns.
For therapists seeking relational, attachment-informed support. Clinical supervision through the AAMFT, for LMFTs in Hawaii and Michigan.
Supervision & Consultation
Can attachment-based therapy help with anxiety and relationship issues?
Yes. Anxiety and relationship struggles often overlap because the nervous system responds to emotional safety, uncertainty, and connection. Many people who experience chronic worry, overthinking, fear of abandonment, or difficulty trusting others also notice similar patterns showing up across different relationships.
Attachment-based therapy helps you understand the connection between anxiety, emotional regulation, and relationships. Rather than treating these concerns separately, therapy explores how they influence one another and helps you develop new ways of responding that feel more secure and manageable over time.
What are the signs of an insecure attachment style?
Insecure attachment can look different from person to person, but common signs include difficulty trusting others, fear of rejection, emotional withdrawal, people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, or feeling overwhelmed by closeness and vulnerability.
Some people become highly anxious when relationships feel uncertain, while others cope by creating emotional distance. Many experience both at different times. These patterns often develop gradually and can feel so familiar that they are mistaken for personality traits rather than learned responses.
Recognizing these patterns is not about labeling yourself. It is about understanding how past experiences continue shaping your relationships today and learning that new patterns are possible.
How does childhood attachment impact mental health as an adult?
The relationships we experience early in life help shape how we understand ourselves, others, and the world around us. When those relationships felt unpredictable, emotionally unavailable, or unsafe, the nervous system often adapted in ways that continue into adulthood.
These adaptations can contribute to anxiety, difficulty regulating emotions, challenges with trust, relationship conflict, perfectionism, or chronic self-doubt. While childhood experiences can have a lasting influence, they do not determine your future. Therapy provides opportunities to build new relational experiences that support emotional safety, resilience, and healthier ways of connecting.
HOW WE WORK
Our approach is attachment-based and trauma-informed. That means we focus on:
Nervous system regulation
Emotional safety
Building more secure relationships with yourself and others
Understanding patterns — not just symptoms
Sessions are grounded, collaborative, and paced to meet you where you are.
Is attachment-based therapy effective for trauma recovery?
Attachment-based therapy can be an effective approach for many people recovering from trauma, particularly when traumatic experiences occurred within relationships or affected a person's ability to trust and feel emotionally safe.
Rather than focusing only on traumatic memories, therapy also considers how trauma influences present-day relationships, emotional regulation, and the nervous system. By strengthening emotional safety and helping clients understand protective patterns that developed over time, attachment-based therapy supports meaningful healing while building healthier relationships with both yourself and others.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Reaching out for therapy is a meaningful step. Whether you are seeking support as an individual or as a couple, our work begins with understanding your story — not rushing to fix it. At Adaptations Therapy Institute, therapy is collaborative, thoughtful, and grounded in research-supported approaches that help create lasting change.
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We begin with a brief consultation to understand what brings you in and determine whether our practice is the right fit for your needs. You are welcome to ask questions and share what feels most important — there is no pressure and no obligation.
From the very first interaction, our goal is for you to feel:
• respected
• understood
• never rushed
• never judgedMany clients tell us they feel a sense of relief even before the first full session begins.
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Your early sessions focus on gaining clarity about your experiences, history, patterns, and goals.
For couples, we look closely at interaction cycles — the moments where partners feel stuck, unheard, or disconnected.
For individuals, we explore the relationship you have with yourself and how it shapes the way you move through the world.
You can expect depth, curiosity, and care — not surface-level advice.
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Our clinicians are trained in attachment-based and trauma-informed models that support emotional safety while encouraging meaningful growth.
Therapy with us is:
• Insight-oriented
• Relational
• Practical
• Compassionate
• Change-focusedWe will move at a pace that is respectful of your nervous system while still helping you move forward.
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Most clients begin with 45-60 minute weekly sessions, as consistency allows therapy to be effective and momentum to build. As progress occurs, session frequency can be adjusted collaboratively.
Sessions are available:
• In person in downtown Ann Arbor
• Virtually across Michigan
• Virtually in Hawaii -
If you are a couple, you may already recognize the cycle:
The same argument.
The same misunderstanding.
The same emotional distance.Couples therapy helps slow these moments down so they can finally be understood — and shifted.
Our approach is active and engaged. We do not simply sit back and observe dynamics; we help guide new ones.
Many couples seek therapy not because their relationship is failing — but because it matters too much to leave unattended.
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Therapy is not about assigning blame or deciding who is right.
It is a space to better understand yourself, strengthen your relationships, and develop new ways of responding when old patterns no longer serve you.
You do not have to arrive with everything figured out — that is what the work is for.
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The relationship between client and therapist matters deeply. If for any reason it does not feel like the right match, we will help guide you toward other trusted resources.
Your care is always the priority.
When you feel ready, we invite you to reach out. Healing often begins with a single conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you're feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or ready for additional support, online therapy can provide a space to better understand what you're carrying and begin creating meaningful change.
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Attachment-based therapy can help people with anxious, avoidant, disorganized, and secure attachment patterns. Many individuals notice they consistently worry about rejection, withdraw during conflict, struggle to trust others, or feel uncertain about emotional closeness. Therapy is not about assigning a label. It focuses on understanding how these patterns developed, how they influence your relationships today, and how you can begin building more secure ways of connecting.
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Yes. Attachment-based therapy can help couples better understand the emotional patterns driving conflict, disconnection, and misunderstandings. Instead of focusing only on the disagreement itself, therapy explores the underlying attachment needs, nervous system responses, and fears that shape how each partner reacts. As couples gain a deeper understanding of one another's experiences, communication often becomes more productive and emotional safety can begin to grow.
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Attachment-based therapy looks beyond symptoms to understand how your relationships and early experiences continue shaping your emotional responses today. While traditional talk therapy may focus primarily on current thoughts or behaviors, attachment-based therapy also explores relationship patterns, emotional safety, and nervous system regulation. The goal is to help you understand why certain experiences feel so emotionally significant and develop healthier ways of relating to yourself and others.
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The length of attachment-based therapy depends on your goals, the concerns you want to address, and the patterns you are working through. Some people seek therapy for a specific relationship challenge, while others choose longer-term work to better understand attachment patterns that have developed over many years. Therapy moves at a pace that supports meaningful and lasting change, allowing time to build insight, strengthen emotional regulation, and create healthier relationship patterns.