Couples seek therapy for a variety of reasons – poor communication, lack of connection, family/work issues, parenthood challenges, discrepant sexual desire, and pre-marital counseling, among other concerns. Your relationship does not need to be in crisis in order to benefit from couples therapy. In fact, many of my couples have strong, loving relationships and are seeking therapy to further improve the quality of their relationship. Regardless of what may be motivating you to start couples work, the willingness to try is a sign of strength in your relationship.

I help couples learn how to slow down their thoughts and feelings in the moment. When you are able to slow down, you are better able to listen to your partner and to tolerate difficult conversation. As a result, my couples tend to experience increased understanding and empathy for each partner’s thoughts and feelings.

Increased understanding and empathy for your partner does not mean agreement with them. With all of my couples, I emphasize the right to not agree with your partner’s perspective, and provide guidance on how to convey disagreement in a respectful manner. Learning how to “agree to disagree” is a critical tool for maintaining a secure and lasting relationship. Conflict is unavoidable, even in the healthiest relationships, and can actually be productive at times. As a team, my couples practice new communication and conflict resolution skills both in-session & out-of-session to reduce the amount of time spent in non-productive conflict. My goal for couples is to remember they are friends not enemies.