I believe life is an exciting and challenging adventure. In this world, no one is, or will ever be, perfect. Life will always involve challenges, difficulties, mistakes, hurts, pain, brokenness, and suffering. Jesus reveals this truth:
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - 2 Cor. 12:9
God’s grace frees us to forgive ourselves, forgive others, love ourselves, love others, and learn from our experiences to create a healthier, happier life in our present and future.
God’s loving acceptance of each of us as we are will be the foundation of our therapeutic relationship. I look forward to working with you in the context of individual, couples, or family therapy.
Individual therapy: Intimacy, depression, anxiety, life changes, relationships, work, school, emotional expression, anger management, stress, sexuality and addictions, to mention a few. I work with men, women, teenagers, and children ages 3 through 12 within the context of family therapy.
Couples therapy: Relationships are extremely rewarding and challenging. I am passionate about helping couples with: intimacy, trust, communication, conflict resolution, healthy emotional expression, anger management, financial conflict, sexuality, recovery from an affair, children, and family or origin issues.
Family therapy: Families are a complex system of relationships with roles, rules, communication patterns, behavior patterns, emotional patterns, and learned ways of responding in the family system. Each family is unique and complex. I enjoy helping families learn about their unique family. I enjoy helping family members make decisions about communication and behaviors that are helpful and some that lead to more negative consequences. I have extensive experience as a family therapist working with families whose child is struggling with their emotions and behavior. I also have experience as a parenting skills educator.
I have had the privilege of helping people in a broad variety of challenging situations: death of loved ones, chronic and terminal illness, health issues, divorce and relationship issues.
Christian values, principles and teachings will be the foundation for our work together. Only to the degree that you feel comfortable, we will incorporate the use of prayer and the Bible.
About me: I tragically lost my oldest sister to heart failure when she was only 21 years old. One of the many things I learned through this experience is that we do not know how long we have to live in this world. I feel passionate about helping others live fully and love others through word and deed in their daily lives.
My wife and I have been married for 23 years. We have two young adult children, ages 19 and 18 and a 13 year old son. We have two dogs and a cat.
May God’s peace be with you on your life’s journey.
Experience
Steve earned his masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1990. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist in the state of Minnesota and a Minnesota Board of Marriage and Family Therapy approved clinical supervisor. He has 14 years of mental health experience. He earned his masters of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in 1999. He has 8 years of ministry experience as a youth pastor, associate and senior pastor.