Great Couples Counselling in Barriere, BC. Therapy to heal relationships.

Couples will learn their strengths and areas that need to be worked on in their relationship in a safe environment. They learn how to engage their partner and communicate effectivity. They learn how to have a healthy relationship with respect and understanding of their own needs and partner's needs. They will examine how to communicate and express what they need to feel valued in this relationship. They will learn how to resolve conflict in a respectful way.

I work primarily with individuals and couples struggling with relationship distress and believe that everyone has the power to change when given the opportunity to do so. My clients will be supported in an authentic and non-judgemental environment. Communication is the key to any healthy relationship. The couples are the experts in their lives and I will support them in their journey.

When working with couples, I have two priorities—ensuring safety and trust within the counselling environment. I am able to listen and hold space without judgment, understanding that relationships do get messy and complicated. My other priority is to learn about your relationship, how it started and what makes it successful. Oftentimes, couples can struggle in one or two areas and rock it in others. I work towards identifying these areas through understanding why the couple has initiated counselling and what they hope to achieve.

I work with couples in the context of parents with teens and concussion/brain injury. For parents of teens, the goals are to meet with you together to help you be on the same page when developing family goals, natural consequences of behaviour and structure. For concussion/brain injury, the goals are to provide education about these challenging injuries, to help build support and understanding, and build resiliency in your home. As a Certified Brain Injury Specialist, I use the most current, evidence-based information, education and approaches to ensure success.

My specialty is couple and marriage counselling. I am trained in one of the most premier therapy modality that continues to show long lasting relational success called Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy or (EFT). We will work together to understand the patterns of interaction that keep the relationship held back to empowering the relationship into deeper secure connection and increase communication confidence.

Couples experience a number of challenges that get in the way of optimal relationship functioning. My role is to help families identify how each partner is supporting each other and what patterns are contributing to the “problem”. As a couples therapist, I provide a neutral third party perspective as to these patterns and we can explore the meaning or context behind them. Once we have identified what patterns are impacting the relationship we will develop strategies for more helpful patterns and responses. I utilize therapeutic interventions from the Gottman model, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, Attachment Theory, Response-Based Practice, and Narrative Therapy.

I'm a down-to-earth, client-centered counsellor that can bring new hope to you and new life to your relationships. I specialize in marriage and couples counselling. I'm trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy and Gottman Couples Therapy. With over ten years of experience, I have the tools to get your relationship back on track. I also offer intensive therapy for highly distressed couples. I'm here and ready to listen with warmth, kindness and compassion, without any judgement or criticism.

asana

The first step with my approach to couples therapy is for us to establish rapport as you inform me of the problem that has brought you to therapy. I use a Choice Theory approach which includes defining more closely what each of you want for yourselves as individuals and the relationship as a whole. From there, we get to work on rebuilding trust in the relationship by enhancing communication skills so each of you feel listened to, heard, and respected. Then we can build on trust to establish the changes needed to restore the happiness that brought you together in the first place.

Any couple, at any stage of the relationship, who wants to improve their relationship can benefit from couples therapy and sexuality therapy. I use strategies from Gottman Couples Therapy, Developmental Couples Therapy, & Ecosystemic Sexuality Therapy. I have a very nonjudgmental style and work with couples of all ages and genders. I realize that having a good relationship is not easy and there are always circumstances (new baby, children, work, money issues, friends and others) that get in the way. I will teach you strategies that will help you build your relationship so it will endure through the trials of daily life as well as through the crises.

Couples can come and learn more effective ways of parenting their children. When each parent has different expectations, children can become confused and play one parent against the other. When couples can learn highly effective parenting techniques and then implement them together the change in the home is radical. This leads to a more stable home where children thrive from consistent, assertive and loving parenting.

Couples counselling focuses on developing strong communication skills, conflict resolution techniques, forgiveness, and effective dialogue. Many couples experience frustration at some point in their relationship where they feel they are not heard, valued or even loved any more. A toxic cycle of blaming, fighting and pulling away begins to form, creating distance and fatigue. For others an affair has shaken the very core of the safety and love they once felt in their relationship. It can be an agonizing and terrifying discovery for the partner who has been betrayed, and strong feelings of guilt, shame and a lack of understanding to how it even happened for the offending partner. Whether you are looking for a tune up to build back the excitement and...(view profile to read more)

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.

In my Couples Therapy practice, I integrate the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to help partners improve their relationship. The Gottman Method, grounded in extensive research, focuses on enhancing mutual respect, affection, and closeness, managing conflict constructively, and creating shared meaning. EFT, meanwhile, delves into the emotional underpinnings of relationship distress, promoting secure, resilient bonds through the expression and understanding of deeper feelings. This dual approach fosters open communication, deep emotional connection, and effective conflict resolution, guiding couples towards a healthier, more fulfilling relationship.

In couples counselling, I would use a combination of an EFT approach as well as the Gottman Method which validated extensively couples, and has been shown to be two of the most successful approaches to help manage couples problems. Using these evidence-based techniques, we would explore the attachment style of each partner, determine the patterns of behaviour between the two individuals and the negative cycle that they are in. We would evaluate cultural factors if there are any, and of course focus on the core issues that the couple presents with. As a marriage counsellor, I would also use EFT and Gottman techniques to identify keys interactions and cycles in the relationship.

Couples counselling takes on many forms. Another term that can be used is relationship counselling. We can explore and practice communication techniques; the cause of many conflicts. Understanding how our thoughts, personality, past and many other parts of our complicated selves can play a role in how our relationships develope. We also do pre-marriage counselling for those who may be experencing difficulty or to explore differences in all areas including religion, parenting styles and upbringing. We design our sessions to your individual needs.