Great Couples Counseling in Citrus, CA. Therapy to heal relationships.

Living with another person can be difficult, whether you are married or considering marriage. When communication breaks down, it can be hard to understand another person's point of view. Couple counseling with a neutral professional can be very helpful. The most common isses concern finances and sex, including infedelity, sexual dysfunctions, and sexual addiction. As a psychologist, Dr. Clark works with people from all cultures and backgrounds, including alternative lifestyles.

I have worked with hundred's of couples over the last 20 years. Each couple is unique in their own right which means there is no one way to "fix" a problem. Our deepest longings and hopes emerge in a couples relationship. Oftentimes we are working out unmet needs and hopes carried forward from our early family relationships to our present couple relationship. Problems become increasingly complex and difficult to overcome when we don't know what these issues are all about. Couples remain stuck in conflict not because of what they know, but what they don't know or can't recognize. The work in therapy is to help couples recognize unhealthy patterns of relating and introduce novelty.

We have been sold a bad story about love. The truth is perfect is the enemy of the good in love and even in the good there are rough patches. But that doesn't mean you can't have a joyful and romantic relationship. I can help learn to handle painful relationships more effectively and engage fully in the process of living and loving together to build a life together.

Our staff of over 25 therapists specializes in helping couples in distress. From pre-marital counseling to couples work and even marriages that have been together for years--we are ready to help. Our staff has received training from Dr. Susan Johnson, the international expert on marriage and couples therapy and can help couples get free from patterns of fighting that you can't get out of on your own. We can teach you how to get free from the gridlock of fruitless fighting, and learn how to thrive in your relationship again.

Couples therapy should not be about hashing over old wounds. Getting what you want from a relationship involves good communication and active listening, tolerance and forgiveness, emotional intelligence, having common goals and working cooperatively and, like all the bets things in life, presents us with a challenge. Relationships can be hard work but the work is rewarding and life-enhancing. I love to work with couples who are committed to improving their future rather than reliving their past.

FRUSTRATED ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS? Stressed out about what to do next? Are you considering breakup or divorce but really want to give it a last chance? Would you like to take one more look before making any permanent decision? I can help you gain clarity, confidence in your decision making in regards to a very important matter in your life through a brief and focused counseling process.

Do you love your partner but not necessarily your interaction patterns? Are you struggling to determine whether this is the person you wish to commit to spending your future with? It demonstrates wisdom and respect for yourself and your partner to seek input from a counselor in an effort to grow or change maladaptive patterns. With a decade of experience helping couples improve communication and strengthen or evaluate their most important relationships, I would be honored to join with you in these endeavors. Please call today!

In couples counseling we will explore the strengths each of you brings to your relationship and how these contribute to the overall health of your relationship together. We will work to understand your contributions and barriers to making your relationship work. The focus will remain on your goals for the relationship with the understanding that these may change as we learn more about each parties level of contribution. I encourage honesty between both parties. You will be encouraged to speak directly with one another to work toward strengthening your communication skills by clarifying the meaning and quality of the words you choose when speaking with your partner.

Many of us can remember the frustrations, hurts, and joys experienced in a loving relationship. Often couples can become confused with the variety of emotions and complicated interpersonal interactions. A counselor can help a couple avoid the pitfalls that can destroy a relationship and help a couple to establish healthy bonding and boundaries within effective communication to enhance and maintain a healthy relationship. For those in an unhealthy relationship, counseling can help an individual understand their need for change, setting boundaries, and maintaining safety for themselves and for other family members.

My approach to counseling couples is to believe that all people in relationships want two things: To be loved and to be accepted. When couples seek psychotherapy, they are fighting because they do not feel loved but instead are feeling rejected, abaondoned or alone. People also are not feeling accepted but instead are feeling judged, criticized, or blamed for who they are. Couples will benefit from my approach as I help people learn how to work through hurt, anger and blame, love and forgiveness, and boundaires and acceptance. When you feel loved and accepted, you will benefit from wanting to work with one another to solve relationship problems and find success in being a couple.

The general goal is to reduce conflict and increase intimacy. In the safety of therapy, and with a trained professional as a third party, you each will have the opportunity to learn about yourself in depth, in addition to gaining insights into the complex dynamics of your relationship. The increasing of knowledge, communication skills, and relational tools can combine to create the intimacy and connection that is so necessary in marriage.

According to a leading couple's therapist, David Schnarch, differentiation is a crucial aspect of intimacy for couples. My approach to couples therapy emphasizes the importance of differentiation in couple relationships. I believe that a healthy couple is one where individuals can share deeply personal parts of their selves with their partner, while also being secure enough to handle however their partner responds. This approach also incorporates exploration of attachment style and intergenerational relationships. I also incorporate aspects of Gottman therapy when treating couples and helping them to enhance intimacy and differentiation.

The purpose of couples therapy is to restore an enhanced level of functioning in couples who experience relationship distress. This distress can result in poor communication skills, incompatibility, or a broad spectrum of psychological disorders that include domestic violence, alcoholism, depression, anxiety or other issues. You should be advised that honesty, providing all necessary information, cooperation, keeping appointments on time, and a sincere desire for change and improvement are all imperative to increase your chances of a successful outcome. Additionally, a willingness to work "towards" and "with" the process of treatment is essential. When you call me to begin the process, we learn about your relationship's traits and work together to...(view profile to read more)