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COUPLES THERAPY

Marriage and relationships can be quite stressful.  When the partners in the relationship have unmet expectations and unexpressed concerns, they can become the seeds that grow into full-blown dissatisfaction, creating a wedge between the partners in the relationship.  Couples counseling serves to repair the broken relationship and help couples build a healthier foundation.  Goals of couples counseling often include:  

 

  • Learning To Communicate

  • Learning to Effectively Disagree

  • Uncovering Larger Issues that Potentially Sabatoge the Relationship

  • Changing Bad Habits and Patterns

  • Building or Rebuilding Trust

 

FAMILY THERAPY

Family therapy helps each person understand and improve the way family members interact with each other.  Regardless of the identified problem area (children's emotional and behavioral problems,  financial hardship, divorce, the death of a loved one, etc.), each member is affected in different ways and this affects the way the family functions together.  Typical goals of family therapy include:

 

  • Understanding how your family functions

  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses within the family system

  • Setting goals and developing strategies to resolve challenges

  • Improving communication skills

  • Defining family members' roles and expectations

Why do I need to go to Couples Counseling when he/she is the problem?

 

Since it takes two to form a relationship, it will also take two to heal the relationship.  Regardless of the precipitating event that caused the relationship to break down, couples counseling is about building a healthy and stable relationship.  One way to do this to focus on helping the two of you communicate more effectively. Communicating the hurts and unmet needs is an important part of the healing process for every relationship.   Ultimately the purpose of couples counseling is helping the two of you grow stronger together.....and we can't do that if only one of you is in the room:-)

What can I expect from couples/family therapy?

 

You can expect that I will be neutral, to not consistently take one person’s side over another’s. Neutrality doesn’t mean that I don’t have an opinion. It means that I am willing to see and understand both sides and am able to confront, challenge, or praise both partners equally.  Generally I will be looking for overall themes (issues that come up again and again in the relationship) and the process that the couple uses to solve problems and conflict. I will also be interested in helping each partner understand the other’s perspective and in helping the couple change the way in which they solve problems and deal with conflict.

What is a blended family?

A blended family is defined as two parents and their children from previous relationships.  The family make-up presents with several unique challenges that affect the way the family functions as well as how the parents work together to co-parent the children.   For example, children in blended families frequently live in two households (one for each biological parent) and each household may have a different set of expectations and rules.  Also, the bond between children and the biological parent is older and stronger than the bond between the parental couple.  The above examples often cause conflict and tension within the home.  Family therapy can help blended families negotiate the challenges and hurdles of becoming a functioning family unit.

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