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

I work to establish trust in both partners by setting boundaries of confidentiality and privacy especially when there is a need to clarify safety of each and to process any "secrets" that may impede successful open communication. Family history does impinge on marital dynamics and can interfere with emotional reactions from past family scripts that can surge into the present affecting communication Personal space boundaries and accountability are the basis of openness and respectful trust the linchpin of building on love that changes from physical chemistry to support for the other. Some common interests and passion for living well is the goal for both. Controlling behavior is called out.

Couples often get stuck in negative patterns, or ways of relating to one another. These negative patterns can cause couples to attack each other emotionally, or worse, drift apart emotionally. It is vital to identify the emotions that drive this cycle, and through therapy, learn to create a dance that brings you close to your partner. We are relationship specialists who have advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT).

You feel like you have grown apart although you are still together. You feel lonely, separated, and unable to connect with your significant other. You want the person you fell in love with back! I use attachement-based therapies and the Gottman Method to explore all facets of your relationship. Together, we will "troubleshoot" the issues in the relationship and what we need to work on in our sessions.

All relationships go through ups and downs but seeing a trained and experienced therapist can make a big difference in how situations get resolved. We have over a decade of experience helping couples improve their communication, find healthy ways to manage conflict, go through life transitions together, get their parenting styles on the same page, address trust issues, deal with lack of intimacy or sexual issues, recover from extra marital affairs, manage the division of labor for household responsibilities and many many other issues. We approach each situation uncovering and building on peoples’ strengths, helping them to reach successful resolutions.

Couples benefit from working on communication, on practicing healthy skills, on unpacking the ways in which personal issues and triggers are interfering with active listening and healthy partnership. Clients benefit from being able to express their needs and feelings, from learning how to be assertive, and from witnessing that they are being heard, both by the therapist and their partner. Finding compromise without losing oneself, setting personal goals as well as relationship goals, learning to nurture oneself, as well as the relationship, are all benefits of therapy. Examining co-dependent patterns can lead to opportunities for growth. The therapist models respectful relating.

The key to any relationship is …… 1. Communication. 2. Listening to the words, nonverbal communication & listening with feelings. 3. The ability to state your needs and desires even if they are not satisfied. 4. Putting your relationship first and everything else next…even your children. 5. Re-evaluating your expectations of the relationship. 6. Showing tangible love on an everyday basis. 7. Graciously saying sorry. Even after doing all you are struggling, then examine the gift you are to your partner. Are you able to receive and accept the, gift that your partner presents in person. If you are still struggling, then you need to seek relationship counselling or marriage counselling.

Relationships can be some of the most meaningful and yet challenging parts of our lives We so often forget that we only get out what we put in to a relationship. Often individuals have expectations that a relationship should be good without a significant investment of time and energy Increasing communication skills, reducing judgement, listening and empathizing, are some basic steps towards the growth of a relationship .

Do you long to regain the closeness that you once had? Whether you and your partner are currently dating or have been together for many years, it is important to take the steps to work through the differences and traumas that have been negatively affecting your relationship. Perhaps you are feeling frustrated, unheard or alone. Or are finding it difficult to talk with your spouse without it erupting into a fight. I specialize in working with couples and will help you respond to each other in a way that you each feel heard and seen. I will help you to solidify a secure future together.

In the downtown Toronto area, people come to see me for help with marital and couples-related conflicts. I am very comfortable helping couples who are in straight, gay, or lesbian relationships. Conflicts often come up between partners in relation to difficulties with intimacy, conflicts surrounding extended family members, and disagreements around family goals and priorities.

I use 9 steps of Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) to help couples identify their negative interaction cycle and each partner's role in that cycle. Steps 1-4 entails empowering the couples to access unacknowledged emotions underlying the interactional positions and to reframe the challenges in terms of underlying feelings and attachment needs. Steps 5-7 entails supporting and mediating couples to change interactional positions and creating new bonding experiences. Steps 8-9 entails encouraging the couples to integrate new solutions to old relational problems.

When it comes to couples, the total is greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, in couple therapy, the focus is not on the two sides of the equation. Rather, the object of inquiry and therapy is the relationship between those two sides. The therapy examines the interpersonal relationship and treats it as a third space. Therefore, the goal is not to change the individuals but to change the way they communicate, understand, and accept each other. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

Loving, successful relationships need to be carefully and skillfully nurtured in the following five areas: Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Sexual, Financial. Couples who are ready to do ongoing work on their relationships are richly rewarded with a loving, meaningful and joyful life together. Committed relationships that have the possibility of morphing into long term relationships benefit greatly by being guided by the Gottman research on relationships as well as Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Premarital Counselling prepares a couple for a new stage in their relationship by identifying potential areas of conflict and strength and developing tools to create a strong foundation.

We all want to love, be loved, and connect with our significant others. Yet, it can feel daunting at times, due to repetitive relationship patterns (influenced by our childhood wounding), poor communication skills, cultural/gender differences, and inability to negotiate “me” with “we”. So be it past trauma, poor communication skills, inability to handle stress, different upbringing (thereby different ways of doing things), or sexual challenges, among other things, I help couples identify the areas/habits which challenge them, behaviors which destroy relationships, and anything else that stands in the way of them achieving an intimate connection.

Intimate relationships can be the most rewarding, and at times, the most painful relationships we experience. Couples often engage in pattern like communications which prevents them from expressing the love and tender emotions they feel for one another on a deep and intimate level. The goal of couples therapy is to enable partners to reconnect and express themselves, stepping outside of negative interaction cycles. Couples therapy helps willing participants to feel heard and understood by their spouse. Learn to listen with your heart and find each other again.

Couples Counselling Most relationships will become strained at some point and will begin producing maladaptive patterns. Relationship problems are rooted in our distorted egos, insecure attachment, emotional immaturity etc., which create to the many issues that develop for couples - infidelity, financial stress, poor communication, ill health, sexual divergence, household responsibility conflicts, addictions, etc., .... or just simply growing apart. Relationships can often be restored if help is sought soon enough. A counsellor can help reorient perceptions and emotions (how we look at a situation and how we feel about it) and assist the couple in adopting conscious structural changes.

When relationships work, they can be one of the most amazing aspects of our lives. But, when relationships turn sour, they can bring about some of the deepest pain that we can experience. These feelings are amplified when things like betrayal, neglect, abuse, lies, and infidelity are involved. At Whiteboard we work with couples of all types to help them better understand themselves, their partners, and the unique dynamic which exists between them.

Shauna provides a well structured attachment based couple therapy that is systemic, psychotherapeutic, and experiential. Negative patterns of interaction that often include misunderstandings of one's partner's experience, emotions, and intentions are carefully unpacked while the original bond of safety and care is re-established. Relationships become more loving, healthy and satisfying.

Being in a relationship with another person is an intricate and reflective practice. Often, we find out that our perception of them is layered with our own needs. My clients begin to combine their individual needs with the relational needs of their partner, finding success through understanding and support. Clients who work with me develop an understanding of how their past is showing up in their present, using tools and strategies to help feel better in their relationship with themselves and their partner.

Couples therapy is a collaborative approach and a safe space to communicate how you feel. Marriage and couples counseling tends to deal with present-day events rather than the past. It focuses on the 'now' and the challenges of married life so that you can get your relationship back on track. Couples therapy deals with the present day but also any history that causes unhealthy patterns of relating. Using the Gottman Method, I focus on communication and conflict resolution and what areas need improvement where we will then learn about creating new connections and rituals. We will also focus on building new meanings and shared value systems that will help you strengthen your relationshi

Winnie provides non-judgemental and compassionate couple therapy. In dealing with Couples counselling she primarily draws from her training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). EFT is the most progressive and well researched therapeutic interventions used in Couples Therapy. By using this practical and effective method, the goal is to help couples to identify their cycle, how they are connecting in their distressing patterns, and how they can be helped to reconnect again in a new pattern. Winnie also had attended Sex Therapy course at University of Guelph. She has also taught Premarital sex courses as well as leading female groups on the topic of sex.

Marriage and significant relationships have more pressure on them than ever before. In a technology based, social networking world with financial pressures and other major issues, couples need to put increasingly more time and effort into nourishing their relationship. Many do not take that time. As a result, relationships become “stuck’ or even “toxic” over time. In sessions, couples will learn how to interact and relate to each other on a deeper level. They will learn effective communication skills, strategies and tools. Couples will also participate in learning about their own specific ways of showing love and their own love style.

Whether you have been together for three months, three years or three decades, our conversations can help disrupt cycles of painful and negative interactions, heal past and present hurts, and create new ways of talking together. I can help you have conversations that are different from the ones you have at home and that allow you to speak to and hear one another in meaningful ways.

My specialized practice is prioritizes couples. I use Emotionally Focused Therapy, the gold-standard of evidence based treatment for couples. When you invest in couples therapy, my guess is that you want to know your therapist is experienced and can fully focus on your journey together. All of my energy, time, and continued training is focused on supporting people to organize, understandm and deepen emotions internally and in their most intimate relationships. I not only believe in this approach to therapy, but I also live it in my daily life and relationships. EFT truly gets the heart of our adult attachment needs, and helps us to chart a path forward for a preferred future.

I use both Gottman method and Emotional Focused Therapy in supporting couples in the sessions. We will learn to spot and recognize the blind spots and patterns in their communications. We will work on sorting out and express feelings and needs between couples. We will address trauma and hardship in the relationships and heal as a couple before building on mutual goals for you.

We do couples therapy differently..........If you go to our web site and read our history you will find we were in the worst of marriage relationships. We have now been married 42 years in 2020 and are having a great relationship with each other. The secret of our success was in how we dealt with the resentment and bitterness which was keeping the arguments alive constantly.