Great Couples Counseling in Norcross, GA. Therapy to heal relationships.

• Are you frustrated in your current relationship? • Do you and your partner seem to have the same arguments over and over again? • Has your partner told you things aren’t going well? Pay attention! Don’t dismiss their complaints. Learn how to: • Rebuild Trust • Respect one another • Have fondness and admiration • Give benefit of the doubt • Value one another • Consider one another’s perspectives and feelings • Create shared meaning • Compromise • Restore romance Kathleen is a Certified Gottman Couples Therapist. She guides couples through a journey of rediscovery so that they build a stronger marriage and a stronger friendship.

"We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways ~ the ways we react and behave when we love someone." - John Grey I've been married for 40 years and fully understand the pitfalls and detours of committed relationships. With advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), I'm dedicated to helping couples find their way back to each other. I help you stop the dance of blame, distancing, and mutual hurt. We'll work on skill-building, adjusting expectations, learning new communication techniques, and healing deep wounds and betrayal.

Many people secretly believe that their opinion is always "right." Then they enter into a relationship and this deep-seated belief is challenged by a partner or spouse who also secretly believes that his/her opinion is always right. This causes major problems. That's where therapy comes into play. I believe that the bedrock of couples counseling is clear and effective communication. For some odd reason, it seems as though communication is a lost art, leaving couples feeling frustrated and alone. People feel as though they're not being heard and their needs aren't being met. I help couples understand each other deeply and articulate their feelings to one another effectively.

Couples counseling can help people make more thoughtful decisions about how to navigate a relationship in a healthy way. Each partner must know who they are and what they bring to a relationship, what the roles and rules (interaction patterns) are that they grew up with, and how each partner's history influences how they relate or want to relate (interaction patterns again) as adults. What we have the most power over in a relationship is ourselves and what we contribute to it.

Underwood Counseling & Consultation, PLLC welcomes couples who desire to improve their partnership. Couples therapy can involve partnerships, pre-marital, marriage, relationship dissolution, divorce, or coparenting, to name a few. Our goal is to help couples navigate towards healthy role definitions, communication, collaborative problem solving, parenting alignment, intimacy, & expressions of vulnerability. We are trained in the use of Gottman therapy & IMAGO relationship therapy. We look forward to being a part of your journey.

Relationships take work, commitment, sacrifice, communication, and compromise. None of this is easy! And when you and your partner don't see eye to eye or have differing values, this becomes even more stressful and frustrating. I can help facilitate open communication between you and your partner to help you understand the root of your problems, how they are negatively affecting your relationship, and how to work through and resolve them. It's a process and takes time, but worth the effort if the relationship is important to you.

I enjoy helping couples stay married when at all possible. Relationships take self-awareness, compromise and a shared vision. To often people rush into marriage without really knowing each other and then discover along the way that they only have 80% of what they want instead of celebrating the 80% they focus on the 20% they don't have. Understanding each others differences and limitations will help you navigate a healthy marriage. Shame and guilt are very destructive. Learning how to forgive yourself and move forward by processing your past relationships can help you understand your present relationship. This can be very important in stopping the cycle of dysfunctional relationships.

Couples counseling usually focuses on finding shared goals for the relationship as well as understanding styles and barriers to communication. I use something called the speaker/listener technique which creates empathic listening and increases connectedness and intimacy among couples. I also believe we are a product of our upbringing and many times have dysfunctional barriers to effective communication.

Whether you’re having specific relationship issues or not, couples counseling can make your relationship better. Most couples only seek help when in a crisis involving infidelity, communication issues, waning intimacy, money, feeling unwanted/unappreciated, in-laws, etc. While these problems may seem insurmountable, with patience and mutual work, it’s possible to resolve them. I provide a safe & supportive space for both partners to explore thoughts and feelings about each other and the relationship and provide practical help to overcome obstacles. Your relationship satisfaction is key to your happiness. Couples counseling can help you regain what you’ve lost or find what you never had.

Relationships can be beautiful but they take work from both parties. Trust, openness, respect, transparency and building healthy communication skills are very important. Sometimes we lose communication somewhere along the way and having a mediator to help both parties see the other persons point of view and hold each one accountable on next steps in the healing process can be very helpful to reconnect and bond your relationship again.

Are you and your significant other at a place in your relationship where you are feeling stuck and unable to move forward? Come work through your differences in a place that assists in opening the lines of communication and coaches you through healthy ways of resolving conflict. With your dedication, flexibility, and hard work, your relationship can become what you've always hoped that it would be. Together we can work on the outward areas of your relationship and your friendship, as well as the intimate and private areas of your relationship allowing you to enjoy all aspects of a good and healthy relationship.

What are the most common couples' issues? If you are thinking "communication, conflict, sex, money, child rearing" you are correct. However, most therapists will go after the symptom on each side of the couple fence thinking that the way to effective change is by getting each party to "work" on their respective "issue". Many times the parties don’t agree but comply. Imagine if you could align the unconscious brains of a couple and stop the "working on your issues" part that has become so popular in therapy settings? Contact kevin@kevinflemingphd.com to learn how! Or call 877-606-6161. DR. FLEMING'S NEW RELATIONSHIP/COUPLES INTENSIVES. www.kevinflemingphd.com/marriage-couples-retreats.php