Do you want to be successful in all your relationships and communicate effectively?

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  • Do you want to improve your relationships or create strong bonds but don't know where to start?

  • Are there a few difficult conversations that you are currently putting on hold or failing to resolve?

  • Are you entrapped in frequent arguments and heated discussions that create stress and even affect your health?

  • Have you been feeling lonely, isolated, avoiding people due to feeling that no one can relate to you and your circumstances?

  • Are you able to stay in dialogues, conversations to negotiate strategically even when emotions run high?

Being able to engage in a successful relationship is not an innate ability or an easy task to accomplish. Many factors interfere with your ability to relate to the world with ease and communicate effectively at all times. There are difficult  conversations in your business or couples relationships that might be happening weekly or daily. People around you might be challenging you with different opinions or reactive responses. Your coworkers, partners and team members can be hard to negotiate with during decision making processes or important deadlines. Family members might all of a sudden demand more of your time and attention especially in the midst of a stressful life change, medical issue, or an unresolved family situation from the past. Life’s unexpected curves constantly apply pressure on you to respond to those interpersonal demands with creativity, balanced composure and a sound set of interpersonal skills. Besides that we all have to reexamine our old relational patterns to  live happy and adapt to new situations.

Is your relationship related stress too high?

Perhaps there had been several socially- or family-related factors that interfered with your ability to navigate your relationship with ease. You might have noticed that the following characteristics created a pattern in your life:

  • Frequent interpersonal conflicts
  • Lack of intimacy with loved ones
  • Self-deprecation, fear of criticism, shyness or withdrawal
  • Social anxiety
  • Feeling of inadequacy
  • Fear of rejection
  • Self-defeating or unsafe behaviors
  • Feeling of being manipulated by others
  • Difficulty expressing disagreement and conflict avoidance

These characteristics can be a sign that your old ways of relating to people are interfering with the quality of your current life and you can gain from learning additional and more effective relationship skills.

Similarly, if you find yourself in situations where:

  • People hurt your feelings
  • You are losing control of conversations
  • Dialogues end up in misunderstanding
  • Others talk to you in a forceful way
  • You or others are trying to win conversations at any cost

Consider putting an end to battles and relationship related stress by learning how to develop effective communication skills, unlearn unproductive relationship patterns, engage in effective conversations, resolve conflict, and perform even in the most controversial and crucial conversations at your best.

Relationship therapy can create change in your life

Therapy offers a safe and compassionate environment for you to reflect on the relationship issues that you might be dealing with. In therapy I, at first, help you better understand your personal style in relating to others, its strengths and growing edges. We will identify possible core roots of your distress in relationships. In my approach I help you to learn and practice new ways of  interacting with your surroundings. You will also be able to master:

  • Five tools to de-escalate crisis in communication
  • Essential communication skills to promote closeness and intimacy
  • Seven approaches for transforming conflict into negotiation
  • Three main techniques to recover from invalidation and create better boundaries
  • Listening and empathic skills to attract more people that you like

The quality of your life depends on the ability to relate to other people with self-awareness, genuineness, and mutual respect. Your interpersonal skills are crucial in your career, family bonds and romantic partnerships.

 

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  • “ "I have known Mrs. Makarova since September 2008 and I have had many opportunities to observe her psychodynamically and psychoanalytically-oriented clinical work. Mrs. Makarova's intellectual curiosity and ability to process complex issues make working with her very gratifying. It is my pleasure to recommend Mrs. Makarova to physicians on Peninsula and South Bay most strongly and without any reservations.” ”
    — Adjunct Clinical Faculty Member at Stanford School of Medicine, 2011
  • “ "I worked with Mrs. Makarova for several years as a colleague at the intensive outpatient clinic in San Francisco and was so impressed with her professionalism, incisive intellect, emotional honesty, and advanced clinical skills in in-depth psychodynamic treatment. She is the most empathic clinician I have ever worked with!" ”
    — Amrita Narayanan Psy.D. Staff Psychologist, Napa Hospital, 2010
  • “ "I have known Mrs. Makarova's working on a clinical team at RAMS, and I can say that she is a warm, thoughtful, and insightful clinician. Mrs. Makarova takes a determined and focused approach to every case she treats and has helped many patients improve greatly." ”
    — Postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University, 2009.
  • “ "Mrs. Makarova is unique in her ability to attend to people; their feelings, their longings and their experiences. She is a true professional and an open-hearted individual. Over the years she has had great success counseling high conflict couples and families. I truly believe that working with her will tilt the scales away from divorce and toward ongoing loving exchanges. For many years I have referred many of my students and their family members to Mrs. Makarova and always got stellar feedback. She combines science-based approaches, having trained in relational patterns at Stanford University, with a unique humanistic style of intervening. As a psychodynamic therapist Mrs. Makarova helps couples see beyond their entrenched relational dynamics and encourages new, functional ways of interchange. I am convinced that Mrs. Makarova's strategic and warm approach is an ideal choice for couples and families in the Peninsula, Bay Area." ”
    — Alberto Varona, Psy.D. Core Faculty, Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology Program at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, 2012.