Atlanta Therapist Gerry Lane

Atlanta Marriage Counseling
Marriage Counseling, Individual Therapy & Family Therapy

Marriage Counseling: Marital or Couples therapy helps partners by creating a context where emotionally charged issues in the relationship can be explored and where each partner develops awareness of how their behavior contributes to the problem situation. Couples come to therapy seeking to revive love, sex, intimacy, and communication in their relationship. Typical problems include threats of divorce, infidelity or cheating, fighting, anxiety, substance abuse, emotional withdrawal and conflict over spending and money.

Individual Therapy: From a Relational or Family Systems model, I focus on counseling the person to become aware of how his behavior effects others and prevents him from developing closeness and stability in relationships. The therapy also helps the person examine and change destructive premises and beliefs that lead to behaviors that are self defeating.

Family Therapy: I often counsel families with children and adolescents. My focus is on helping parents understand the interactional patterns and how their children's behavior often triggers responses in parents that may make problems worse. I adhere to the classic premise of the Mental Research Institute. It says if you try to solve a problem in others by repeating the same solution more forcefully, it often makes it worse and at times even creates a chronic problem.

About Gerry Lane, LCSW, LMFT, Therapist

American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Member

Gerry Lane, LCSW, LMFT is a Psychotherapist and Marriage Counselor in private practice in Atlanta with his office located in Buckhead. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and licensed Clinical Social Counselor with over 27 years of experience counseling couples, individuals, and families. He is recognized internationally for advancing Family Systems and Relational Therapy in collaborative work with Gianfranco Cecchin M.D. and Wendel Ray Ph.D. He has co-authored two books on solving relationship problems that have been translated into five languages. He has also authored book chapters and numerous articles published in journals such as The American Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, The Psychotherapy Networker, The German Journal Of Family Therapy, and The Journal of Brief Therapy. He has conducted workshops for therapists throughout the U.S. and Europe. He served as a consultant and guest teacher at The Milan Center For The Study Of The Family in Milan Italy and has been the Director of Training at Families First.

Gerry's counseling practice is based on Family Systems Theory which is focused on changing relationship patterns and belief systems, this applies whether counseling individuals, couples or families. His emphasis is on helping clients change destructive behavior and thinking that prevent them from building and maintaining positive and lasting relationships with people that are important to them. He believes that most emotional problems from depression to anxiety disorder or caused by an inability to maintain positive relationships. This is based on understanding that humans have a powerful need for love and belonging. He believes the core of any good therapy is based on the Counselor building a relationship of trust, empathy, and respect with the client.

Gerry is a Clinical Member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Marriage Counseling

Gerry specializes in counseling couples in conflict and often in crisis. He counsels many couples who are dealing with the issue of infidelity. Research indicates that adultery often leads to divorce; however with appropriate therapy couples can work through this crisis and change, often building a much stronger healthier relationship. Philosophically he supports marriage, commitment, and monogamy. He rarely sees divorce benefiting either marital partner and believes that it has clearly been proven to be destructive in most situations to children.

Addiction Therapy, Substance Abuse, Alcoholism

The problem of addiction and substance abuse has become a serious problem in our culture and has a profound effect on couples and families. Research indicates that successful therapy for addiction involves counseling of the couple and family. It is important to help the family break the repetitive destructive behavior patterns and beliefs that support and maintain addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous and AL-ANON are important components in the success in breaking addictions and maintaining sobriety.

Atlanta Journal Constitution features Gerry Lane

When the Atlanta Journal Constitution needed an Atlanta marriage counseling expert to comment on the extramarital affair of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, they called Atlanta therapist Gerry Lane. Gerry is featured in the news article where he explains how it's difficult to cover up an extramariatal affair in today's world of cell phones, emails and text messages.

Read the AJC article