Great Couples Counseling in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Therapy to heal relationships.

Couples counseling can be beneficial to any couple in a committed relationship. If both partners are willing to participate, counseling can be effective regardless of sexual orientation, age, race or length of time spent together. Couples will benefit from tracking progress as it helps to promote emotional awareness, communication, and healthy changes in behavior. Couples counseling can benefit clients dealing with trust issues, financial burdens, resentment/unresolved issues, infidelity, transition phases and countless other challenges effecting the relationship.

Suspecting an affair? Have you just learned that your spouse wants a divorce? These are the types of crises situations that Kari Hunter specializes in. A relationship counselor for 25 years, she has worked with all types of couples to help them navigate the many difficulties that go along with love and partnership. Whether your relationship can benefit from conflict-resolution skills, communication coaching, or intimacy enrichment, don't wait until small problems become a crisis. But if you have gotten to the point of contemplating a break-up, there is a new service for that too, it is called Discernment counseling and it helps couples come to a mutual confident decision about the future.

Being in a couple is a dream-come-true for most individuals. Yet, when the romance, over time (generally 6 months to 2 years), melds into the routine, lovers feel lost, lonely, and long for the past. What does this pattern mean on the developmental, life-long path of a couple? Feeling attracted is Step 1. Making a commitment to each other is Step 2. Disillusionment is Step 3 before you (Step 4) shake up your beliefs about a "happy marriage." How could you and your partner rejuvenate and inspire your commitment? I can help you understand the Steps with powerful ideas for you to start applying today. If you spouse isn't ready, you can lead the way!

Most therapists are scared of providing couples counseling because it is difficult remaining unbiased towards two people who are in the throes of high conflict. However, I love it and it is my favorite type of counseling to provide. In my experience I have found most couples get caught up in the details of life and begin fighting to be right instead of fighting for each other. Instead of focusing on what they need to hear they become consumed over how their partner has wronged them. I focus on restoring reconciling the relationship to a place that is mutually beneficial for each partner using evidence based interventions from CBT, The Gottman Method, Bowen Family Systems, and ACT.

I work with couples at every stage of their relationship—whether you're just beginning, feeling distant, or navigating complex seasons of change. Together, we’ll create a safe space to slow down, truly hear one another, and uncover the deeper patterns that keep you stuck. With care and curiosity, we’ll explore the roots of disconnection and gently build new ways of relating rooted in understanding, emotional safety, and trust.

Communication barriers and conflict are present in all relationships and it is most important to work through these issues together and in a way that supports growth and fosters love in relationships. In therapy I can provide techniques and a space for you to practice utilizing more effective ways to communicate that allows both people to feel heard and understood. I am available to help you work through conflicts and relationships goals in a safe space together.

Relationships take work, especially when life’s stressors get in the way. Whether you’re navigating conflict, rebuilding trust, or seeking deeper connection, I help couples strengthen communication, deepen emotional intimacy, and resolve challenges with compassion. Together, we’ll build a foundation of respect and teamwork so you can grow together rather than apart.

In the stress of daily life and struggles, couples often forget why they love each other. They lose perspective and only feel anger and hopelessness. This is not what God wants for your relationship. Couples therapy involves looking at the communication patterns and baggage that keeps you stuck but will also help you remember and regain the love and understanding for the one you love.

Some of my clients call it a gift. I know it is my passion. Couples counseling is a perfect fit for me. I get energized whenever a new couple comes to see me. As a communication, relational specialist, I get to know my couples individually and as a couple by taking time to carefully listen and understand them. This allows me the opportunity to help them understand each other and where they are likely stuck in their relationship. Once I identify the negative pattern, I assist the couple in shifting the pattern into one that is mutually respectful, caring, accommodating, and enriching. As a result of my extensive couples work I am currently writing a book on respectful relationships.

What are the barriers to your individual and shared experience of life? What are the factors that can best aid you in achieving your desire for a harmonious union in your relationship. Frequently communication is a starting point that reflects individual challenges in effectively addressing emotional needs, forms of co-dependency, and long-standing ineffective habits. Working from treatment methods informed by the treatment theories of John Gottman, I seek to help clients learn to speak and interact in ways that reflect their vision for the relationship and not the unexamined habits of the past.

Accepting and celebrating the differences that make up a couple can bring joy to any relationship. Validating emotions and not having to understand them reduces the amount of fighting that will take place. Watching for areas of stonewalling, contempt, defensiveness and criticism will allow communication to continue and not shut someone down or up. Learning how to repair a relationship on a daily bases will keep it on the road for many years.

All relationships have their challenges, you are not alone. If you are you are seeking to overcome a challenging time in your relationship or you desire a more intimate connection with your partner counseling will help. My approach to therapy will give you the tools to reduce frustration, improve communication, establish trust and build intimacy. Most marriages, mine included, go through rocky times. But that doesn't necessarily mean the marriage is over. Working through your challenges will help strengthen you as a couple. Say goodbye to your relationship of the past and open your mind to a new kind of relationship with the same partner!

Many kinds of couples find their way to counseling with me. I see married couples, couples with step and blended families, new and old couples, co-habiting couples, bisexual and gay couples, swinging couples, and premarital couples. I enjoy working with the interplay between partners. Most clients come in to better their communications and lessen specific conflict s around decisions and patterns of behavior. Many come in to struggle about separation, divorce and infidelity. Couples who see me usually understand their personal issues more fully and know more about their partner then before counseling. They tend to feel more connected, warm and more respectful of one another.