Areas Addressed in Couples or Marital Therapy

Improve Communication: Feel Heard and Validated by your partner

How open is your communication with your partner?  Do you feel heard?  Do you really listen?  Open communication is the backbone of any healthy relationship.  Communication is a two way street.  You can learn to listen so the other wants to talk and you can learn to talk so the other wants to listen.  Communication breaks down when unresolved past relationship issues intrude on current communication.  Communication also breaks down when old, unfinished business from the family of origin covertly sabotages communication.  Communication is then more of a response to old tapes or messages then to the current situation.  In Couples or Marital Therapy, I teach you to communicate effectively and authentically as well as to listen in a caring way.  Good communication helps foster successful problem resolution and creates intimacy when each person feels heard and responded to in a caring, respectful manner.

Improve Emotional Growth: Grow together in a loving way

Is your relationship stuck or limping along with the same old unhelpful patterns in place?  Just as a child grows into adulthood, your relationship needs to grow!  You can learn to grow together emotionally in a loving and caring way.  My focus is to promote emotional growth both individually and as a couple.  I foster relationship growth through awareness of destructive unresolved emotions that are keeping your relationship stunted and unhealthy.  Couples then learn to overcome these destructive emotions, which block positive emotions like love and joy.  I use Depth Therapy and Emotion focusing techniques to get to the heart of the matter, to move through unresolved emotions and connect in a loving, intimate way.

Improve Understanding and Empathy: Understand one another at the deepest level possible

Do you feel like your partner does not really understand you as a person?  The need to feel understood, to have your partner really “get” all the different parts that make you a unique person, is vital in healthy relationships.  In loving relationships, our partners can be our greatest allies (or critics).  Fostering awareness and understanding of yourselves as individuals in a loving relationship can transform your relationship creating deep levels of empathy and caring.  During the process of Couples or Marital Therapy, I take time to draw out aspects of each one of you, gradually and in a safe, supportive manner, so that your partner comes to know you on a deeper level.  I use Depth Therapy and Emotion Focusing techniques to achieve this goal.  Once you get to know each other as individuals, you learn new ways to support one another in your journey together.