Couples Therapy

I provide psychotherapy for couples, which can be helpful when a relationship is new, when contemplating big changes such as marriage or children, when having difficulties, and also when the partners just want to make the most of their relationship together. Every relationship offers opportunities for growth and development, and there are skills you can learn through therapy to communicate and relate better. Couples therapy, then, is a place to learn how to improve your relationship and the result can be greater intimacy and deeper satisfaction. Couples therapy often includes assignments outside the sessions; I will offer readings, worksheets, and exercises to do on your own, sometimes individually and sometimes together, in order to further the work.

I also have experience with alternative relationships and I work with couples and other relationship configurations around these relationship issues, as well.

People sometimes have preconceptions about couples therapy that they are guarded against: that the therapist will take sides, that one partner is right and another is wrong, that the other person needs to change but not oneself, that the therapy will amount to being told that you are doing your relationship wrong and how you are supposed to change. My approach is very different from all of those. Research shows that shared values and interests are foundational to lasting relationships. My clients have remarked to me that they were surprised that couples therapy was not negative as they were expecting. I work with you to identify strengths and skills you have and to move toward a predominantly positive experience, both in and out of sessions.