Couples/Family Therapy

After attaining licensure as a clinical social worker, I completed post-graduate family and couples training through the Ackerman Institute for the Family. I also served as a trustee on Ackerman’s board of directors from 2015 to 2019.

Relationship

My core belief is that the relationship of the couple or family that chooses to work with me is my client, rather than the individuals themselves.

Family work offers unique challenges; emotions tend to run hot in couples and families. My job is to allow those emotions to present themselves while observing and maintaining control of the general tenor of the sessions.

Only after being confident in my assessment of the presenting problems within a family do I seek to intervene to interrupt time-worn dynamics.

Transparency

I value transparency—having the flexibility of using my authentic self in the treatment room. I use genograms, or family trees to try to trace the impact of the past on the present, and to help frame your current concerns as a product of your own individual family histories.

Frequently, I find that my clients take a different, more curious, and less reactive perspective on their troubles when viewed through a longer historical lens.

Pragmatism

I am pragmatic and unafraid to coach in a very directive manner. I may make use of all manner of supplemental resources, whether videos, music, poetry, or journalism—whatever seems most appropriate to your specific situation.

I want to keep you informed and to have you leave therapy feeling that you have become an expert on your relationship.

Dan Rocker