‘Tis The Season…..

The holidays are billed as a joyful season filled with family and friends. But for many, the holidays are a very difficult time. They are a reminder of another year gone by without meeting that special someone. Another series of parties to attend with no “plus one”. Another year of family gatherings spent talking to siblings’ spouses and playing with siblings’ children. Another year of bracing for the dreaded “When are you going to settle down?” conversation with well-meaning relatives.

Dating is hard. Dating is frustrating. Dating is discouraging. But there is hope. Like any other circumstance where you feel stuck and stagnant, you can breathe new life into the experience by looking at it in a different way. A new insight, a shift in perspective, a new understanding can make all the difference to a process that has become practiced and repetitive.

Dating Boot Camp can offer that shift in experience. Join with other frustrated daters to explore your relational patterns from a deeper level of awareness. Get honest feedback about how you present yourself to the world. Take a closer look at who you attract and who you are attracted to. Understand the roots of your belief systems and how they impact your interactions with others. Find peace and acceptance with who you are, flaws and all, so others can too.

Instead of being a victim of the dating scene, take control of your relationship life so that this time next year, you can give thanks and enjoy all the merriment of the holiday season. You deserve it.

Christine

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A Time Of Transition

With the last heat wave behind us, there is no denying that summer is ending and fall is quickly approaching. The energy of fall is productive, grounded and focused. It is a time of year for settling into routine, getting projects done and tackling new challenges. Take advantage of Autumn’s energy to breathe new life into your efforts to find a dating partner.

If you have struggled on the dating scene but feel hopeless about what to do differently, Dating Boot Camp can help. With a small group of fellow frustrated daters, explore in depth why you get stuck in particular patterns. Understand better how your choices may be sabotaging your success. Learn to shift negative belief systems that impact how you present yourself to the world. In 5 weeks you will be equipped with a new perspective about yourself and your dating dynamics. You will be empowered to engage in the process differently, bringing you closer to achieving the results you have been wanting.

I am currently interviewing for two DBC groups. Pending full enrollment, one or both groups will start in October. Join us!

Christine

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Dating Boot Camp Returns!

After a wonderful summer off, Dating Boot Camp is back! If you are frustrated by the bar scene,  can’t seem to find success with online dating and are tired of your friends playing match maker (or don’t have any friends playing match maker!) it might be time for something more radical. Join me and 5 other frustrated daters to explore on a different level the personal factors that might be undermining your efforts to find “the one”. There are currently two groups forming to begin this fall pending full enrollment. I have openings left for males between the ages 25 and 45.  Additional information can be found here.

Happy dating!

Christine

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Dating Boot Camp is a success!

The first session of DBC is in the books! Over the five weeks, workshop participants engaged in experiential exercises to explore topics such as:

– Introductions and first impressions

– Does our “self sales pitch” actually sell what we intend and what others want to buy

– How internal self-beliefs show up in our body posture and facial expressions and how to capitalize on that as a resource

– What we want in a partner and how that lines up with who we tend to date

– How we fit with others and why

– How to determine if that “click” we feel with someone is a good thing or a sign of trouble

– How family-of-origin patterns impact current dating choices

– And how we can get out of our own way and become more active, purposeful agents in creating the dating/relationship life we want.

Participants joined together, made themselves vulnerable and walked away armed with new insight about themselves and the interpersonal patterns that interfere with achievement of their dating goals. They have expressed the intention to stay in touch in order to continue supporting each other in the implementation of all they have learned together. I’m so proud of their engagement in the process and will be checking in in three months to see  how they are doing on the dating scene.

The next Dating Boot Camps will begin in the fall. I have two groups currently filling. Feel free to contact me for more information.

Happy dating!

Christine

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Dating Boot Camp Update: Week 4

This week in DBC, the focus was on how we choose people to date and how well those choices line up with our true values. Participants had some surprising insights about what they thought they wanted in a partner and the people they tended to date. Hopefully, those insights will serve them well as they embark on their practice dates this week! In the final meeting this Saturday we will focus on  how we “fit” with other people. We will explore whether that feeling of “clicking” with someone is a good thing or a sign of trouble and how to tell the difference. Then we will tie things together before we wrap up the debut session of Dating Boot Camp!

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Dating Boot Camp Update: Week 3

During our third meeting, DBC participants shared feedback about each others’ online dating profiles. Many were more nervous for this group than for the first meeting! Being scrutinized by our peers is pretty scary. I believe they all left with some useful feedback about how their self-report is interpreted by others. Today, we look at choices in dating partners. What draws us to others and why?  Is what we THINK we want what we ACTUALLY want and how to tell the difference. All of this information will be helpful in preparation for the big date! Between now and our last meeting DBC members will go on an actual date and practice all that we’ve learned thus far. Watch for an update next week!

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Dating Boot Camp Update: Week 2

Dating Boot Camp – Week 2: This session, DBC participants broke up into single-gender groups to consider their peers’ feedback and impressions from the first week. We discussed tendencies to view new information through old lenses, the idea of taking another’s perception as truth versus a reflection of their own stuff, and the way insecurities dictate how we present ourselves to the world. Tomorrow we will continue exploring the theme of self-presentation and begin to look at the impact of historical experience on how we view ourselves and what we put out to the world.

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Dating Boot Camp Update: Week 1

Yesterday afternoon six very courageous daters gathered together committed to begin exploring with each other their relationship patterns, family dynamics and internal belief systems about self and others.  Each participant was active and eager to learn how to improve their chances of finding a fulfilling relationship.

The focus of Week 1 was on first impressions. Upon meeting new people, we all make judgments, both about others as well as about ourselves. It is in our nature to categorize people fairly quickly as a way to gauge relative safety. At the same time, our own insecurities surface as we are aware that others are also categorizing us.

DBC participants were asked to anonymously share their initial impressions of each other, how they would like to be seen and how they thought they presented themselves. The feedback will be compiled and shared in a subsequent group.

Next week, group members will further explore the question of how they are perceived by others as trust begins to develop and the topics of discussion become more personal. Stay tuned…….

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Dating Boot Camp Starts!

The first round of Dating Boot Camp begins Saturday May 4th! I am excited to explore deeper relational patterns with the six courageous men and women who will make up the inaugural group. Week 1 will focus on introductions and first impressions. Members will explore how they hope or intend to present themselves and how they actually come across. We will also look at tendencies in how the members attempt to learn about each other. Two openings for men remain in the 30 to 40-year-old group which will likely begin in the fall. Stay tuned for updates!

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In need of a dating tune up?

At last, spring has sprung! With the energy of re-birth and emergence in the air, it’s the perfect time to refine your approach to dating. If you have been dating for a while and don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere, or if you have struggled to get started altogether, Dating Boot Camp can help you identify and remove obstacles that may be getting in the way. Join fellow daters for an experiential self-exploration to find out things such as how you come across to others, whether you are accurately reading others’ signals and why you may be drawn to – or drawing – the wrong kind of people. Groups start in April!

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