Great Couples Counseling in Santa Rosa, CA. Therapy to heal relationships.

Relationship problems are one of the most common causes of distress and unhappiness around! We seek comfort, security, companionship, connection, sexual fulfillment in our relationships. When there is a problem, it can feel like our very survival is at stake! I help couples to reconnect in a loving way, so they experience greater joy and happiness with one another. I use a variey of benefical techniques to help you work through your problems. You learn to really listen and tune into one another through a special communication process I developed. You also learn to identify and let go of old baggage that gets in the way of your connecting.

Using a combination of Gottman Method Couples Therapy as well as Sue Johnson's Emotionally Focused Couples therapy, I will help you and your partner identify your problem areas and negative cycles that keep you stuck and support your relationship moving back into a pattern of ease and intimacy. We will support increased core emotion expression, identification of each individual's needs, breaking down old negative habits, and reconstructing new habits that will keep your connection strong for the long term. Let's discuss your needs today in a free consultation.

Much of the couples work I do is in understanding the core issues that are causing problems in the relationship. Often things like differences in expectations, problems with communication, issues related to intimacy, and difficulties related to trust and safety can cause a friction. My goal is to help you get to the root of the issue and discover new more effective ways of showing up with your partner. Positive change is possible.

Even with well-meant intentions to find one another or to create harmony in your relationship, partners fall into repeating negative patterns which can include angry pleading, accusation, defensiveness or cold withdrawal. This is painful. I help you to understand how you get stuck and then guide you through new emotional experiences which stop the old negative patterns and help you to find safety and feel connected and in love again. I specialize in couples therapy. I have over 27 years working with couples and many hours of training specific to helping couples. I am certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples (EFT), an evidence-based, empirically validated approach.

In my Couples Counseling work I help partners build on the strengths of their relationship while we work together to create new skills for communicating and solving problems. My approach is collaborative and I teach each partner to learn how to listen and hear what the other is expressing and needing as well as ways to be heard and understood better. I provide a safe place where difficult problems can be discussed and solutions explored and practiced so that couples can better resolve ongoing problems.

I love working with couples who are struggling in their relationship as I find the complexity within the dynamic to be reflected of one of our most core dilemmas as humans: how do we give and receive the love we so deeply want, when the risk for disappointment and pain is so great? I believe there is a solution to be uniquely discovered by each couple facing this question and I utilize clarity, compassion and curiosity to help you both to find it!