Great Couples Counseling in Tappan, NY. Therapy to heal relationships.

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), I have extensive training and experience helping couples navigate some of the most painful and difficult chapters of their relationships. My approach is both compassionate and practical, shaped by years of walking with couples across the country as they work through challenges of trust, intimacy, and communication. I have also been featured in leading outlets such as Forbes, The Knot, Women’s Health, Yahoo, Self, Glamour, and AARP for my insights on relationships, intimacy, and communication. Whether you are facing ongoing conflict, a loss of closeness, or the aftermath of betrayal, I would be honored to meet with you and your partner.

It wasn't always this way. There was a time you looked forward to being with each other. You both trusted and enjoyed each other's company. You felt understood and accepted for being yourself. In couple's counseling, Hal offers you the opportunity to find the hidden strengths in the heart and soul of your relationship. Hal has helped hundreds of couples to improve communication and increase trust. Hal is very well respected and experienced in couple's counseling. In addition, he is a published author and was invited to appear on David Letterman's Late Night television program. Hal's schedule is flexible and appointments are available on evenings and weekends. Call Hal at (516) 439-4282

There are countless models of healthy romantic relationships, from monogamous to polyamorous, and unique variations between partners. The scripts for dating and longterm relationships of our parents’ generations may not be applicable to your relationship, and there is no formal education in how to be a good partner or how to identify unhealthy relationships. But there is psychological research that shows that effective communication, emotional openness, intimacy, and other factors contribute to healthy relationships. Creating these conditions are skills that can be learned. I practice brief humanistic and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) to help my LGBTQ and hetero clients learn these skills.

Couples sometimes find that their relationships – once the source of so much intimacy and joy – have become disappointing, even destructive. We all reach impasses in our relationships, and these can be opportunities to overcome obstacles and grow together or to recognize irreconcilable differences and end the relationship in a healthy way. Together in therapy we can work to help you shift from criticizing and blaming to discovering individual feelings that underlie the surface conflicts. It can have a liberating and transformative effect on both you relationship and yourselves.

Why do we seem to have the same arguments over and over again? How do I know if we are really supposed to be together? Are there things we could be doing to better support each other, to help each other grow and be our best selves? If we really love each other, why do we so often hurt each other? How do I know if this is real love, anyway? Relationships are hard. Even more than desire, they require effort and understanding to make them work. Often, even if two people really love each other, one or both may need help to maintain the right effort or understanding to keep the balance necessary for long-term success. Having outside, objective support can make all the difference.

I help you learn genuine communication expressing your needs while respecting and caring for your partner. These fulfilling communications lead to a better relationship and a better life. Drawing close in intimacy in a couple can be challenging. Being close to another person can result in buttons getting pushed in areas of the self that were never resolved. Despite the challenge, we deeply want to feel intimacy in life. Intimacy in relationship, while often challenging, is one of the greatest opportunities for growth. Caring, compassionate communication between partners opens each person to deeper feeling, connection, and expression. These capacities are crucial for a fulfilled life.

Audrey believes strongly that good couple's therapy does not aim to fix the relationship, but rather uses the relationship as a opportunity to develop individual insight and personal growth for both members of the relationship. Through this insight, you will develop behavioral changes that help to optimize your joint relationship experience. I use communication exercises, insight through inherited family wounds, and light challenging techniques to help couples work better together.

Careers and children each place enormous stress on a couple’s ability to be together in an intimate and satisfying way. Every couple has different ways of dealing with the challenges, and counseling can provide the perspective and encouragement to re-create a shared vision for the future. For something as important as this, it is surprising how little training and preparation is provided; family therapy fills in the blanks, and resolves the confusion.

Are you struggling to get along with someone whom you thought you loved? Are you seeking to fortify your relationship and cut get rid of all those doubts and mistrust issues which are permeating your relationship. Couples counseling can help you and your significant other learn ways to openly talk about the areas of strength and weakness in your relationship. You owe it to yourself to explore.

Sometimes members of a couple get stuck in their old relational patterns, the ways they have always related to others. As years pass by, and romance or sexual experiences diminish or other life events happen, the old patterns become more evident leading to gaps in communication, dissatisfaction, and lack of excitement. As a therapist, I will help you to communicate more effectively with your partner, in ways that acknowledge your personal needs and the needs of the other. I will help you find balance between conflicting needs: the needs of the individual and the needs of a couple. I work with straight couples and GLBT couples.

Relationship can bring great joy as well and great challenges. Many problems stem from difficulty communicating with your partner. I can assist you in finding the way to express yourself, as well as the capacity to listen; to find the appropriate boundaries that enable you to feel free while staying connected. Working through conflicts in relationships often not only preserves the relationship, but also empowers each individual to be more confident and open in their own life.

Anger is not an aphrodisiac nor is it helpful in getting more of what you want. Couples in conflict often focus too much energy on changing their partner. The problem is that each partner does not have direct control over the other. The way out is of this dilemma is to learn how to not get so upset over what you dislike in your partner. I teach each partner how to improve their relationship by first modifying their own behavior. By having better control over your emotional and behavioral reactions you can more constructively communicate, negotiate and influence your partner. I teach you how to get your message across and positively influence your partner so that you can enjoy the results!

Therapy for Couples include working on improving communication, making changes in dynamics both individually and as a couple, increasing self awareness, improving behaviors, learning to work as a team and having acceptance for individuality. Formulating goals and having a safe space to be honest will take place. Working on being open-minded will be explored. Learning healthy boundaries will be incorporated into the sessions.

The first step is to do a free couple’s assessment. In this session we’ll get clear on what has been difficult for both of you and how have you have been feeling. We will look at what the most important things that you have not been getting from your relationship. Then we will determine what makes a relationship for you and what would potentially break up a relationship. In closing we will go over what does work about the relationship and I will teach you a method that will help a woman learn to speak to men and for men to know how to speak to a woman.

Working with couples, married or not I will help you understand and resolve conflicts and improve your relationships. I will give you the tools to communicate better, negotiate differences, problem solve and even argue in a healthier way. I know the techniques that will help you reach the right pathway to happiness.

www,YourMarriageCounselor.com Saving Your Relationship and Making It Work. Imagine how your relationship was in the beginning. I will help you build on those feelings, so that you can find the love that you have lost. I work with traditional and non traditional couples who are: dating, in long term relationships, living together, engaged, newly weds or couples who have been married for years. Some people say to me "Are you in favor of saving relationships?" My answer to them is: “Yes, as long as it is not physically and emotionally destructive to either of you.” Relationships are one of the most important things in our lives and it's not always easy go to: YourMarriageCounselor.com.

I only see couples, it is my passion! We look at the negative cycles fueled by communication, money, parenting & blended families, careers, health, and/or sex/intimacy. When was the last time you had an open conversation with your partner that wasn't hijacked by your negative relationship cycle? I am also an affair specialist and have worked with countless couples to sift through the incredible pain to see if there is anything left of the relationship to be salvaged (in most cases, there is). I have met many couples who come in as roommates & leave my practice experiencing intimacy & being a better team that can make agreements and be in sync. My common sense approach fosters accountability