Couples & Families Therapy
Family and relationship conflicts can arise for many reasons, including miscommunication, concerns about finances, or coping with an addiction or a chronic health problem. Conflict between romantic partners may also result when: raising a challenging child, feeling sexually disconnected, experiencing career challenges, or navigating extended family relationships. When couples or families are in conflict they often develop and then repeat unhelpful patterns involving blame, criticism, and defensiveness. Our goal is to help our patients identify these unhelpful patterns and then develop new patterns that facilitate intimacy and connectedness.
There are many benefits of working with a skilled couple therapist including:
- Better understanding each other and each other’s attachment/relationship needs
- Learning to share the more vulnerable aspects of yourself with each other
- Developing a deeper, more intimate connection
- Developing effective strategies for resolving inevitable disagreements
- Developing and sustaining an active, intimate, and passionate sex life
- Improving communication skills
- Developing effective co-parenting skills
In any close relationship, conflict and disconnection are inevitable. Building a meaningful, connected, and nurturing attachment with one’s partner takes time and effort. The struggle to be close while maintaining your independence and autonomy can be difficult. Through couple therapy, you and your partner can establish renewed trust, a deeper connection/bond, a healthy interdependence, and respect for one another’s needs.
During couple or family therapy, also called relationship or marriage counseling, you and your partner will learn to see the vulnerable parts of each other and begin to hold them in mind, making room for their emotional experience and relationship needs. Communication is crucial and you will both learn to become better at listening, as well as, expressing your authentic experience. Effective couple or family therapy also seeks to illuminate the relationship or family’s strengths and develop a deeper bond and resilience as a team.
