Online Relationship and Family Therapy

Dr. DiNardo’s theoretical orientation is informed by the totality of her academic and clinical experiences to date.

She works from a strong psychodynamic and family systems foundation yet also incorporates elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and solution-focused therapy.

Dr. DiNardo also recognizes the degree to which “successful therapy” depends on the uniqueness of the person(s) that are presenting for treatment.

Thus, she operates with a flexible, versatile approach that meets the demands of the particular case more than she works to fit a case to a theoretical orientation.

Dr. DiNardo is particularly excited about the work that she facilitates with couples/throuples including but not limited to heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgendered, and/or polyamorous dynamics.

In her work with couples, she conceptualizes her treatment focus as “the relationship.” Couple Therapy differs from individual therapy in that the individual psychologies of each person are considered in the context of how it connects to “the relationship.” Couples Therapy usually means beginning a fairly significant journey on the path toward improved communication skills.

As a true systems thinker, Dr. DiNardo focuses much less on determining what diagnostic label best fits her clients and much more on the unique existence, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and behaviors (past and present) of the individuals whom she feels privileged and honored to work with.

She tends to view feelings of depression, anxiety, inattention, trouble focusing, and low self-esteem as suggestive of imbalances that exist in other areas of a person’s life. Her work with individuals is highly collaborative meaning that she invites her clients to be an active participant in the process of determining what’s happening for them that doesn’t feel good and creating a path toward improvement. Dr. DiNardo has received consistent feedback from her clients that includes appreciating her “warm, supportive, but very direct and engaged energy in the room.”

She believes that her clients unanimously feel the extent of her passion for her work and for the field of helping professionals.

From therapy with Dr. DiNardo, clients can look forward to increasing a sense of who they are, whom they’ve been, where they come from, where they are, and gain some clarity about where they might like to go. Dr. DiNardo’s clients learn how to put words to their thoughts and their feelings and understand the way in which these things are understood and perceived by other folks in their lives.

It is her hope that her clients feel more confident, more certain, more supported, and most of all more compassionate towards themselves as human beings.

To learn more about virtual therapy, click here.

Family therapy is the true experience of Systems Theory at work. It involves zooming in and looking at each member of the family and understanding their individual strengths and areas for growth. At the same time, it also involves zooming out and seeing how the individual family members (or parts) within the family are functioning together as a whole.

Family Therapy is about taking the opportunity to understand how each person in the family is viewing the problem being experienced and about developing a way for everyone to begin to communicate about the problem in a way that leaves each individual feeling heard, understood, and supported.

In terms of families with young children, it is often the case that Dr. DiNardo is asked “do you work with kids?” The answer is “yes, but…” Dr. DiNardo is sensitive to the relevant difficulties that are emerging for kids today. She is also keenly aware of the emotional and behavioral problems that present in social and academic settings. Yet, while individual work with kids can help with these challenges, it is often the case that having the parents and/or relevant caregivers involved in this process proves the most successful in terms of outcomes.

Dr. DiNardo is also competent and trained to work with families that consist of adolescent and adult children and to work with families where there are issues of separation, divorce, re-marriage, cross-cultural differences, mental health diagnoses including learning disabilities, step-parenting, death, loss, and transition. Sometimes this work involves having the entire family in the room for sessions and other times it involves unique combinations of people for what the field calls “subsystem work.”

Each family is considered on a unique and case-by-case basis in terms of understanding the presenting issue, understanding the individuals and family as a whole, and determining the most effective treatment option.

To read about virtual therapy, click here.