Couples Therapy

I specialize in helping couples improve their connection and communication.  Here are some common questions people have about my relationship therapy services. I hope this is helpful in assessing whether my services may be a good fit for your needs.

Rates

My rate is $350 for 50-minute standard therapy sessions. However, with couples I most often work in 2-3 hour blocks to prepare and integrate the work we do in multi-day intensive therapy.  Please note, I do not take insurance in my private practice. For insurance-covered services, please consider another provider at my former clinic, Puget Sound Psychotherapy, where clinicians are in-network with a range of insurance panels, including Medicare.

Intensives, also called "marathon therapy" or "immersion relationship therapy"  - currently, this is the only service I am offering to clients, I am not able to take new weekly clients at this time. Learn more about my immersion relationship therapy services here.

 
Frequency
At the end of our first consultation session, if we decide to work together, I typically schedule an individual session or two with each person. After the solo sessions, we all three meet together for most if not all of our future sessions. After the intensive, together we determine what "dosage" of a follow-up plan would best fit your unique situation.
 
I find that intensive therapy sessions (3-6 hours with breaks) can be an amazing way to facilitate openness, awareness and options for change that often take twice as long as shorter and less frequent sessions. 
 
 
Style of Therapy
In my practice, I use a variety of evidence-based therapy methods in my work with couples, such as: Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method™ Couples Therapy, as well as Mindfulness techniques to help clients regulate physiology during periods of intense emotion or conflict. The primary philosophical foundation that I use is Bob and Rita Resnick’s Model of Coupling partnered with a phenomenological framework.  The largest challenge most couples face is "dealing with difference", in particular engaging with their partner's different worldview and different ways of being. As part of the Gottman Method and the EFT treatment models, I video record all of my sessions to improve my skills and to help me provide you with better therapy. If recording is a concern, please address this before scheduling.  If you have any questions about my methodology or how I work, I welcome your email or call.

 

Typical issues that couples counseling can help you with:

  • Poor communication that leads to escalated conflict, avoidance, or both

  • Aloneness, isolation within the relationship

  • Unresolved conflict

  • Having a passionless relationship

  • Infidelity

  • Anger

  • Conflict about child-rearing

  • Conflict about sex or sexuality

  • Blended families

  • Premarital or preventative couples counseling. This is for newer couples who are devoted to each other and wish to either stop bad habits before they cause damage and/or learn skills to deal well with differences and the ups and downs of long term commitment

What couples typically achieve in couples counseling:

  • The delicate art of balancing your needs for autonomy and connection

  • Improved communication - feeling heard, understood, and staying close

  • When feeling hurt, the refractory period shortens, meaning less time fighting and more time being friends 

Resources I find useful when working with couples:

Video highlighting some of the skills you will learn in counseling:

 

 

Gottman Approved Member