Great Couples Counselling in Elmira, ON. Therapy to heal relationships.

Healthy relationships and emotional connection are typically fostered by effective communication and boundaries. Therapy can help you and your partner understand the patterns you are currently feeling stuck in and learn how to communicate each of your needs and perspectives from a place of vulnerability, compassion, and care. I work with individuals, couples and families. Book a free consultation to explore if we are a good fit for therapy.

Couple therapy is a broad term for those who wish to address relationship concerns or would like assistance in navigating their relationship. Presenting topics may include breaches of trust, infidelity, (co)parenting, sex and intimacy, separation, exploration of relationship structure or general conflict and arguments. Often times, at nobody’s fault, couples may get caught in patterns of interaction that bring a lot of pain to the relationship. I will assist you in identifying these harmful interactions and work towards breaking that cycle with new ways of relating to each other. I am affirming of polyamorous and ethical non-monogamous relationships. Contact me to book a free consultation.

Being in a relationship is hard, and knowing how to navigate a healthy relationship is even harder. It's okay if you don't have all the answers, if it's just you seeking support, or if you are not sure where to start. We can talk about how to navigate within your relationships and learn skills and tools to support your relationship better. I heavily rely on John Gottman's work to support my couple's work.

Too many people start at the end with couple work. My approach takes a good solid look at the history created to get you there. Then we search for the skills to ensure that you are able to complete the change your seeking- often people require active listening and talking skills as a beginning point. Too often people come to me presenting an issue and focusing on confrontation and conflict resolution before they can even comprehend the issues of one another....tells me how many people actually learn to run before they walk? Couple work isn't about who is "right" but rather where are we going and how do we get there (and a little of how did we get so lost?).

When communication breaks down in relationships it can often lead to a disconnection from our partners which can seem irreparable. This can lead to a lack of intimacy, resentment, or mistrust towards each other. When a couple agrees to reach out for help, it shows a commitment to each other and an openness to change. When doing couples work it is a priority for me that each partner’s concerns and feelings are heard and addressed. This involves ensuring equal time for each person to talk about their concerns and needs as well as their goals for our work together. I have experience in working with heterosexual as well as same sex couples. Book a free consultation today.

In couples therapy skills to share needs, wants and emotions without blaming or attacking are learnt that can help couples grow in intimacy and have a sustainable, happier relationship. Emotionally Focused Couples therapy and Gottman therapy focus on the importance of having honest, respectful and open communication in relationships. This is something that is not often taught to us as children in fact we often learn the opposite.

It is normal for couples to have some ups and downs over time. Disagreements, and competing values and expectations can be hard to navigate and can cause hurt feelings, and arguments. In therapy you will deepen your connection, better understand each others needs and wants, while learning important skills to help you communicate better and resolve conflict.

Healthy relationships take commitment & work. I help couples increase emotional intimacy & connection. I help them stop unhelpful ways of interacting, achieve resolution to their unresolved conflicts, & take responsibility for their negative contributions to patterns. Couple relationships require re-committing ourselves to each other repeatedly throughout the length of our relationship. I will help you to learn to "turn towards" one another. I will also help you to eliminate the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a phrase coined by couple researches John and Julie Gottman. Lastly, all couple relationships include pursuer-distancer patterns. I will help you identify these and work to stop them.

Over the course of your relationship, you are going to face its ups and downs. Learning how to meet all that life may throw at you, together as a couple and grow stronger in each experience are just some of the many benefits of couples counselling I provide. I help you develop the tools you need for when your relationship goes through a tough time. You'll learn how trust and open to your partner and feel safe, how to respond to your partner's needs during the good and the bad times, keep moving forward and blooming as the time goes by.

I often see couples when one side is experiencing an addiction. This can cause relatively predictable effects in the other half of the partnership. The person addicted needs their own recovery and the partner needs their own healing. The couple also needs to heal by restoring trust and dealing with underlying issues. At OWA Therapy, I focus on overcoming those underlying issues.

An intimate partnership is a strong and powerful connection between two people, and it is often a complex dance of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. In couple and relationship therapy my goal is to assist couples in resolving problems and conflicts that they have not been able to handle effectively on their own. Therapy involves both partners sitting down with me to discuss their thoughts and feelings. My aim is to allow each partner to gain a better understanding of themselves and their partner and help them to decide if they need and want to make changes in their lives and in their relationship. I provide a supportive safe space to help couples learn new ways to relate to each other.

Couples can often become fixated on repairing their partners’ behavior and waiting for the other to change before feeling content in the relationship. However, in my work with couples, I have found it fruitful to explore how each person in the relationship is contributing to a dynamic that they would like to change. I also believe that therapy should be a space where each person can express their views and feel validated and accepted by their partner(s). Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ensure we are a good fit.

In working with couples, the relationship is my client. My goal is to ensure that both partners feel heard and validated. I support the couple in creating space to have conversations that might otherwise be difficult to have. In working with me, couples will learn improved ways of communicating and being there for one another. They will also learn how to manage conflict in a way that is supportive of relationship growth. Further, the couples' strengths will be highlighted and accessed to continue to grow the relationship bond.

I utilize an integrative therapeutic approach when working with couples. One is Emotional Focused Therapy, Systems Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We look at the family of origin to determine how this has affected your new family system. We look at attachment issues as well as negative thinking patterns. Collaboratively we work on new ways of living by making the necessary changes that are required for a healthy, happy relationship!

We all long for connection. Many of us feel great in the times when a relationship is new and the connection is just developing. The problems come when we have to repair distance/rifts in that connection, or when we need to sustain and deepen our connection to our partners. Maybe we never learned how. Maybe we carry scars and trauma from past relationships. Maybe we have patterns in our histories that we never really dealt with. Maybe all of the above. Our work together will take all of that into account and in a non-judgmental environment, we will hold space for you both to learn how to repair, strengthen and maintain your most important relationships.

A loving relationship can be a source of profound connecting and security, and as with many aspects of life worth pursuing, it requires nurturing. While I do not offer couple therapy sessions, we have many couple and family therapists at Psychotherapy Collective, my online clinic who are availability to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ensure they are the proper fit for your journey. Visit our website to book a free couple consultation https://www.psychotherapycollective.ca/services/couple-therapy

Over the years I have worked with many configurations of couples; same sex, open, non-binary. I tend to draw from an emotionally-focussed approach and find moments of tender vulnerability to be so profoundly healing. I also really enjoy creative "out of the box" outdoor experiential activities that I orchestrate based on the particular couple and their concerns. I find these activities can become playful and bonding for couples.