Relationships go through periods of strain for many reasons, such as communication breakdowns, emotional overwhelm, unmet needs, life stressors, or repeated misunderstandings. Many couples seek therapy not because they want to assign blame, but because they want clarity, support, and a way forward that feels healthier and more connected.
My approach to couples counseling is warm, structured, and grounded in research-supported methods that help partners understand the emotional and relational patterns driving conflict. Therapy focuses on slowing things down, increasing emotional safety, and helping both partners feel heard and understood.
If You’re Feeling Uncertain
Many relationships experience behaviors that look concerning under stress, such as defensiveness, blame, emotional withdrawal, or confusion, without meeting criteria for abuse or personality pathology. It can be difficult to know where your relationship falls.
If you are unsure whether couples counseling or individual support is the best fit, I encourage you to schedule a short consultation. Together, we can assess your situation and determine the most appropriate next step.
Important Clinical Considerations
Couples counseling is not appropriate in all situations.
When a relationship includes emotional abuse, coercive control, gaslighting, chronic one-sided blame, couples therapy can unintentionally reinforce harm rather than promote healing. These patterns undermine shared reality, accountability, and emotional safety, which are necessary for couples work to be effective.
COUPLES COUNSELING & RELATIONSHIP REPAIR
Telehealth-only for couples in TX, MT, and OR.
15-minute consultation to clarify next steps.
Couples often seek counseling when communication feels strained, conflict escalates quickly, or connection has slowly eroded over time. You may feel stuck in the same arguments, unsure how to move forward, or disconnected despite caring deeply about the relationship.
Couples counseling provides a structured, supportive space to slow these patterns down, better understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and work toward more effective communication and repair.
What Couples Counseling Can Help With
Couples counseling may be helpful if you and your partner are experiencing:
Difficulty communicating without misunderstanding
Feeling disconnected or emotionally distant
Ongoing tension or resentment
Repeated conflict that escalates quickly
Repair after betrayal, infidelity or ruptures in trust
Cycles of reactivity or withdrawal
Desire to strengthen your relationship
This work is especially effective when both partners are able to reflect on their own patterns, take responsibility for their part in the dynamic, and engage in therapy with a shared intention toward change.
What Sessions are like
Sessions are conducted via secure telehealth and focus on helping both partners feel heard without blame or escalation.
Together, we work to identify recurring patterns that keep you stuck, slow down communication during difficult moments, and build practical skills that support understanding and repair. The goal is to create more clarity, emotional steadiness, and connection within the relationship.
Sessions are 50-90 minutes depending on need
After an individual assessment, sessions will include both people in the relationship
Sessions will focus on dynamic patterns, enhance what is working and develop skills needed to change problematic patterns
Important Clinical Considerations
Couples counseling is not appropriate in all situations. When patterns of coercion, chronic one-sided blame, manipulation, or emotional abuse are present, couples work may not be clinically appropriate or safe.
In these cases, individual support focused on stabilization, clarity, and boundaries is often recommended before engaging in couples counseling.
If you are unsure which type of support is the right fit, this can be discussed during a consultation.
If You’re Feeling Uncertain
Many relationships experience behaviors that look concerning under stress, such as defensiveness, blame, emotional withdrawal, or confusion, without meeting criteria for abuse or personality pathology. It can be difficult to know where your relationship falls.
If you are unsure whether couples counseling or individual support is the best fit, I encourage you to schedule a short consultation. Together, we can assess your situation and determine the most appropriate next step.
Next Steps
If couples counseling feels like a potential fit, I invite you to reach out for a consultation.
If parts of this page raised concerns about emotional safety or relational patterns that feel destabilizing, you may also want to explore support for Narcissistic Abuse & Relationship Trauma Recovery.
In these situations, individual therapy is often the safer and more appropriate starting point.
If you are unsure whether couples counseling is right for your relationship, a brief consultation can help clarify the safest and most effective path forward.
If couples counseling feels like a good fit, please reach out.