Hello! We are your mentors, Kristy and Jerry.
We walk the talk. We’ve both been married. Divorced. And remarried to other people, cultivating happiness after some rough times.
Kristy Gaisford, LCSW, has a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University. She has been a clinical social worker for 20 years. For the past 10 years, she has been training extensively in couples therapy through the Relational Life Institute with Terry Real. Her practice specializes in couples/relationship therapy. She believes the most important relationship you will ever have is your relationship with yourself. She is a certified RLT therapist.
“I believe that the quality of our relationships affects every aspect of our lives. Being in a healthy relationship not only with others but also with ourselves is imperative and requires skill and mindfulness. In working with me, you will very likely cry, but you will also laugh while gaining insight into your past and knowledge for how best to go forward. When working with couples, I tell the truth with love. I am not afraid to hold partners accountable for their immature/harmful behavior. Clients have appreciated my warmth, my commitment to telling the truth with love, the care I show in the face of their pain, and the acceptance they experience when talking about things they may not have told anyone before.
As your therapist, I view my role not as an expert, but as a fellow traveler-one who is applying what I share with you in my own life. Like you, I do that some days better than others, but I am always trying to improve.
Let’s talk.”
~ Kristy
Jerry Sander, LCSW, is a graduate of New York University’s School of Social Work. He is a father of four and has been in private practice for 37 years. He has trained extensively in couples therapy through the Relational Life Institute with Terry Real, is a certified RLT therapist, and is an adjunct instructor for NYU in their MSW program in Westchester.
“We help create our relationships every single day. The challenge of aligning the best version of ourselves — our finest intentions — with our actual behaviors and expressions (as part of a couple) is the not-so-easy part. I’ve learned to take on this challenge with enthusiasm every day because the rewards are better than anything I could ever have imagined before.
I could not manifest this work — practice it, teach it, cherish it — without the loving involvement, patience and support of my wife, Ellen MacDonald. She is a therapist, as well, and knows how to wrestle with me when that needs to be. We love each other through storms and sunny skies and I’m grateful every single day for the intimacy we create from being in each other’s lives.
There is nothing better, in this work, than for me to help others break free from the ‘same-old’ patterns into a life where thriving replaces ‘just surviving.’”
~ Jerry