Couples Therapy
Given enough stressors or transitions, all relationships have the potential to struggle with communication and emotional connection. Therapists help couples communicate in a way where partners hear each other better and feel more understood by their partner so that you can start functioning as a team again and rekindle the natural love you once felt for each other.
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Meaningful Time Spent Working on Your Relationship
Couples therapy feels different than conversations couples have at home and that's a great thing. By disrupting negative communication habits a skilled therapist can show you during your time in sessions that change is possible. Spending an hour or two in therapy weekly or biweekly can be a great way to be intentional in your relationship and safeguard your relationship from disconnection and hurtful communication.
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Our Therapists Use the Science of Love to Help You Reconnect
It wasn't that long ago that therapists were having to feel their way through couples therapy. What's exciting is that research has caught up and we now know what makes relationships thrive and feel connected and what disconnects couples. With training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) and Gottman Method Couples Therapy therapists now have the research and skills necessary to help most relationships re-establish a healthy emotional connection and improve communication and understanding of one another.
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You Deserve to Connect Emotionally
It's easy to give up on the dream of having a relationship where both partners are connected and intentionally turning toward each other's stress and big emotional experiences, but we have the science and research now in couples therapy to know what works. Our therapists use research proven techniques to help couples who are disconnected relearn how to connect emotionally using the science on what makes relationships last.
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Not Addressing Past Emotional Hurts Leaves Couples Stuck
Avoiding the hard parts of life is a way to cope when you are trying to survive or don't have ideas about what other ways you can reach your partner. It also catches up with the relationship eventually and creates ruptures that even strong couples could have challenges overcoming. If you know you have past relationship hurts and aren't sure how to address them with your partner, therapists help create a space to do so with the support needed to be successful.
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy can be utilized in Couples and Individual sessions. For couples, EFT works to break the negative emotional cycles within relationships by creating an empathetic understanding of each partner's emotions that can create more healthy, connected cycles of interaction between partners. This approach works to emphasize the importance of the attachment bond between couples. Individuals can benefit from EFIT, which works to change unhelpful and maladaptive emotional experiences like loss, shame, and and fear by understanding and managing them in healthier ways. Dr. Sue Johnson, author of "Hold Me Tight" and "Love Sense", developed EFT and EFIT for use with couples and individuals.
Gottman Method Couples Therapy
Based on over 40 years of research with thousands of couples, the Gottman Method for couples therapy is one of the most widely utilized couples therapies in the world founded by Drs. John and Julie Gottman. Gottman Therapy includes a thorough assessment of your relationship and integrates research-based interventions based on the Sound Relationship House Theory. The goals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy are to disarm conflicting verbal communication; increase intimacy, respect, and affection; remove barriers that create a feeling of stagnancy; and create a heightened sense of empathy and understanding within the context of the relationship.
A Helpful Tip
A common mistake couples make is to wait too long to reach out for services allowing resentment and disconnect to grow. Communication may deteriorate during this time and couples may even begin living separate lives to avoid constant misunderstandings with their partner or fighting in front of their children. Reaching out as soon as possible gives your relationship a chance to find ways to cope with life stress and transitions before the partners experiences negative consequences and ongoing hurt.