Relationship and Couples Guidance

Although I no longer conduct couples counseling, the 30 years of experience I had counseling couples uniquely qualifies me to give extremely effective relationship guidance. In lieu of doing couples counseling I have found it equally effective to counsel people in individual therapy about relationship issues. In fact, counseling one person in a couple can often be more effectove than having two people in the therapy room. Why? Because there’s significatly less distractions and defensiveness.

As an experienced psychotherapist and marriage counselor, I recognize that discussing couples and relationship issues therapy can be more than a little intimidating, especially if you’ve never been to therapy before.

In psychotherapy, relationship counseling focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between two people. That in and of itself can be a little intimidating.

Being in a relationship can be challenging. Unfortunately, no formal education exists on how to have relationships. Each person has certain expectations for how the relationship will develop following the courtship and the marriage.

Many couples don’t communicate their expectations effectively and are surprised when their needs aren’t met. When this is combined with other negative behaviors it often leads to resentment and problems in the relationship.

As a longtime experienced marriage counselor, my approach to relationship advice is to help you strengthen the weak areas of your relationship and further improve upon the strong areas. We will discuss whatever areas need fixing, from trust and communication to romance and sex.

The right guidance can make all the difference

The foundation of effective therapy is a close client-doctor relationship. I seek to establish a close working and collaborative relationship. Our work together be confidential, sensitive and caring.

This begins during our initial discussion and continues to develop throughout the course of counseling.  Therapy always begins with your objectives and ends once they are achieved.

As a relationship therapist, I focus exclusively on saving and improving relationships. When a relationship is in trouble, the parties may not be aware of all the reasons for the conflict.

If both people consistently become defensive, the misunderstanding can quickly escalate and turn into hurt feelings. Without an intervention, the conflict can become destructive and the professional help of a counselor and psychotherapist can become essential.

Couples therapy and commitment

Sometimes a person will end a relationship prematurely, without realizing the sadness and trauma that happens afterwards. As a psychotherapist, I find this is particularly sad when the relationship could have been saved.

We don’t realize that personal patterns tend to be repeated and that ending a relationship without correcting a negative pattern of behavior can lead to repeating it in a new relationship.

Whether you’re fighting a lot in your marriage or feel things aren’t the way they used to be, working with a therapist can help.  I can assist by clarifying what forces are behind the issues that both hinder and enhance your life together.

In therapy, we can explore what’s involved in the communication patterns of how you relate to each other and to that end, some of the problems we may need to work on include:

• Challenges with intimacy
• Conflict resolution
• Communication problems
• Anger and resentment
• Infidelity
• Insecurity
• Sexual problems

How relationship counseling can help

By learning the tools in a caring nurturing environment, couples can begin to take steps to confront issues, patterns and approaches that are causing friction. Learning new skills and tweaking old habits can help you to prepare for the future of your relationship.

When we work together in counseling, I am committed to helping you feel supported in your journey to health and happiness in your relationship.

If you’d like to begin the process of improving your relationship, please call me to make an appointment or book online by clicking the “Booking Online Now” button below. I look forward to helping you improve your relationship.