Couples Therapy

Relationships are complex. Sharing life with another person brings together different histories, needs, and ways of communicating. Conflict is expected when two people try to build a shared life, and the quality of the bond matters for your sense of safety and belonging.

Couples therapy offers a space to slow down, understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and move from reactivity to choice, together.

Who It’s For

Here are some signs that couples therapy may be right for you:

Loss of closeness and connection.
You feel the spark from the beginning of the relationship fading. You may begin to notice yourselves growing apart, becoming less familiar with one another’s lives, or feeling un-excited to reconnect after time apart. Responsibilities such as work and parenting, can absorb the energy you once invested in each other. Distance can also result from unresolved painful conflict.

Chronic resentment.
Resentment often grows out of unmet needs, sometimes unspoken needs we don’t believe we’re entitled to. Many of us have been taught that needing too much is selfish or that independence is a sign of maturity. When our needs are ignored or dismissed, they don’t disappear; they tend to surface as irritability, comparisons (“I do this, why can’t you do that?”), or a general feeling of distance. Resentment makes it harder to enjoy time together and often leads to emotional withdrawal.

Gridlocked issues.
Conversations around particular topics can feel stuck, exhausting, and leave both of partners feeling unheard, with no real sense of progress. These “gridlocked” conversations might revolve around major issues, such as how to raise children, manage money, or decide where to live, or they might seem small on the surface but carry deeper meaning. Topics like politics, religion, or values often become gridlocked when perspectives differ.

At the core of these issues is the tension “In order to be with you, I need to give up something fundamental of myself”

If any of this resonates, therapy can be a place to examine what’s beneath the patterns and explore new ways forward.

How Couple's Therapy Can Help

If you are struggling in a relationship, you may be asking the question: “How did we get here?” The good news: relationship distress is not random, it follows patterns that can be understood and shifted.

Drawing on decades of research by Drs. John and Julie Gottman, couples therapy offers practical tools for strengthening connection, improving communication, and navigating conflict with more care.

Rebuilding friendship and intimacy.
Couples therapy can help rekindle closeness and connection, while also addressing the patterns that cause distance. It creates space to strengthen the underlying friendship that often fades in the busyness of life or after painful conflict.

Improving communication.
Therapy provides practical tools for communicating and listening more effectively. As we learn to express ourselves authentically and listen with openness, we become better at sharing needs and resentments in ways that can be heard by our partners. This allows us to move through conflict productively, talk about underlying needs without blame, and express appreciation more often.

Shifting gridlocked issues.
Therapy helps us explore gridlocked issues and stuck patterns by looking beneath the surface, at the values, emotions, and past experiences that fuel them. Relationships touch some of our deepest needs, wounds, and beliefs systems. Therapy makes space for partners to understand and share these with one another. As this happens, the difficult patterns that once felt rigid become more flexible. Closeness no longer requires you to give up parts of yourself, but instead allows you to share more of who you are.

Couples therapy isn't about deciding who’s right or wrong; it’s about learning how to repair, even when you disagree.

About My Approach

I’m trained in Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Levels 1 and 2, an approach grounded in longitudinal research on what supports lasting relationships. I integrate this framework with mindfulness and Internal Family Systems principles so partners can notice both the “we” of the relationship and the individual parts within themselves that get activated.

You choose the goals and the pace. I offer structure, tools, and perspective to help you move toward the kind of relationship you want to build.

What to Expect

Sessions are collaborative and active. Both partners have space to speak, listen, and reflect without interruption or judgment. We’ll use structured exercises, skill-building conversations, and practical takeaways to apply between sessions.

Some meetings feel straightforward and skill-focused; others may be more emotional. Both can be useful. Over time, many couples notice changes in how they communicate, repair after conflict, and reconnect. Tension doesn’t disappear completely, but it becomes easier to navigate, and you feel more like you’re on the same team.

Next Steps

You don’t have to wait for a crisis to start. Many couples choose therapy as an investment in their relationship, strengthening what matters before it unravels.

If this approach aligns with what you want to create together, a brief consultation can help you decide whether we’re a good fit and what next steps might look like.