ABOUT

Adela is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who graduated with a Master's degree in Clinical Counseling. She also has a Master’s in Journalism which she received in Europe where she is from. She speaks three languages and understands the need to tailor therapy based on cultural backgrounds. 

 

Adela continuously educates herself on most current developments in the field so you will be able to receive up-to-date care. She is certified in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) which she can use in helping with emotional regulation, something that can be quite difficult for clients when dealing with blended family issues. Her past experience as a grief counselor at a hospice facility helps her focus on what truly matters in the lives of her clients.

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ACCEPTING DIFFERENCES AND UNITING AS A TEAM
Adjusting to your life and role in a blended family can be a lonely experience. You may be coming here because you may be wondering if living in this type of family situation will ever get better. You don’t have to navigate this new territory on your own.

 

Adela can help you accept differences between the new and the old family, as well as understand the place and role you will or are already playing in the new family system. She would like to aid you and your partner in managing the challenges you face when starting a blended family.

 

Adela would love for you to function as a united team, feel safe to express all the confusing emotions and collaborate on setting boundaries. Adela believes that finding a way towards a more civil relationship with ex-partners can be extremely stress relieving for all involved. She prefers working with adults/couples. If you would like to include children in the process she is happy to refer them to another team member. 
 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH BLENDED FAMILIES

Adela grew up in a blended family with step-parents and step-siblings which made her acutely aware of the at-times stressful, challenging and strained relationship dynamics. She has witnessed the animosity, confusion, upset and sadness that can come with having other family members trying to accept a new person into the system. She has also had to navigate the tricky dynamics of being the newcomer and outsider in two different families by way of marriage.

 

Also, Adela has two step-children in her current relationship. Her experience with her own family and with her clients is that blending the new family system can take between 2 to 5 years, just as research stipulates. This huge adjustment is straining on every member, not just the “newcomer.”

 

Adela's personal experiences as a child and as an adult help her support you with clear and practical guidance. Counseling with Adela can help ease the inevitable family tension, preventing it from getting worse and avoiding resentment before it sets in. 

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CULTURAL SENSITIVITY AND EMPATHY FOR SUFFERING

Having grown up in post-Communist Czech Republic and then having moved to the U.S. by herself in her mid-twenties have enabled Adela to observe, learn from, and adapt to two different cultures. She understands the need to take culture and individual differences into consideration when embarking on a therapeutic journey with clients. Furthermore, early parental loss and spousal loss aided her in developing more compassion and empathy for those who are suffering.

 

BELIEVER IN COUPLES THERAPY

She is married and tremendously benefited from her own couples therapy. This helped her realize how important an outside guide can be to help a couple move through a stuck point. She has made couples therapy her main focus because she personally experienced that life-giving change is possible.

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CO-PARENTING ISSUES

Your parenting agreement is set, the schedule is ready to go and all the paperwork has been approved by the court. But now what? How do you actually do this co-parenting thing? What if you are too consumed by the injustices that happened in your newly ended relationship? Adela can help you stop rehashing the past and move towards being able to focus on what actually matters most now: your child.

 

Perhaps you don't have a parenting plan yet. In this case, Adela's role is to normalize your feelings and guide you to make important decisions that affect your child. She likes to spend the first two sessions meeting the parents separately to understand their unique stories and their relationship with the children. Together, Adela will help you work on establishing boundaries, best practices and shared expectations. This will enable your child to feel that you both are the source of comfort and stability. The more acrimonious the breakup or the divorce was the more detailed parenting plan you will need and she will help you mediate that. 

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Consistency with room for flexibility are key and they aren't mutually exclusive. There may be times when you need to be flexible about your partner's mistake or negotiate favors to ask of each other. Let's focus on staying respectful and being teachable in order to diminish everyone's frustration. Adela can guide you in being able to communicate effectively. You used to be lovers and now you are colleagues with a contract that centers around your child's needs. Get your kid's input before making important decisions. It may be a good idea to set regular family meetings. 

 

OTHER SPECIALTIES:

•    Neurodiverse/Neurodivergent  Couples Counseling 
•    Couples Therapy 
•    Life Transitions 
•    Affair Recovery
•    Grief and Loss 
•    Trauma 
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LANGUAGES:

Fluent in Czech, French and English

 

CLIENTS: 

Couples, Families, Young Adults 

 

MODALITIES:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-based Therapy, Gestalt, Positive Psychology, Existential Therapy, Art Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy.

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LICENSE:

Licensed Therapist, MFTA #143787, APCC #9260

​Employed by New Path Couples Therapy Inc.

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CONTACT:

astonetherapist@gmail.com

Phone: 310-695-8958

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