Great Couples Counseling in Encinitas, CA. Therapy to heal relationships.

What attracts us to an individual can become the seed for problems later in a relationship. Therapy can assist in identifying the emotional , thinking, and behavioral patterns that diminish the possibility of satisfaction and love in relationships. Therapy can help you to find new ways of relating that bring joy and happiness in sharing your life with another person. Skills can be learned and approaches to challenging situations modified that harmonize and balance conflicting points of contact with a loved one. Learning to relate in a way that increases your contentment in your relationships is only a few steps away. By opening your heart to the possibilities of love, you can heal injury.

I work with couples to repair and rebuild their relationships. My practice focuses on providing couples with the tools they need to create a healthier and more connected relationship. I believe in an integrative approach that is rooted in evidence-based therapies such as Emotionally Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Psychodynamic Therapy. My goal is to help couples find a deeper understanding of one another and create a more meaningful relationship. I strive to provide a safe, non-judgmental, and respectful environment that encourages honest communication and healing.

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.

Humans experience the world through relationships with others. We are made to connect! When connections with our significant others are fractured, it can impact our mood, our health, our work and family relationships. We fear being abandoned, alone, and a disappointment to those important to us. Emotionally Focused Therapy can help us to reconnect, feel cared for, and to feel loved and valued again by our partners. You do not need to remain stuck in repetitive cycles of isolation and pain. Whatever your partnership arrangement, you are welcome. Things can change for the better! Maybe you are a couple on the brink of divorce. Discernment counseling can help get clarity on the path to take.

Let me guess. One partner feels alone and like they don't matter and the other feels they are always being criticized and can't get anything right. The more one asks for the other to show up, the more the partner disappears physically and emotionally. You both bicker and fight and the idea of sitting and just hanging out seems elusive, if not impossible. Something like this? Often we crave connection but are blocked by the pain and the history that gets in the way. Small fights about little things become battles that highlight our struggle to have our basic relational needs met. I can help you get under the bickering to the parts crying out for connection- to an enriching relationship.

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.

My work with couples is developmental and focuses on self-confrontation, differentiation, and collaboration. Individuals in the partnerships that I work with take responsibility for their own mental health and happiness and learn to grow themselves up in a way that brings goodness and intimacy to their relationship. I can help them overcome gridlock and sexual challenges to strengthen the relationship and reignite desire.