Great Couples Counseling in Van Nuys, CA. Therapy to heal relationships.

Is your relationship full of miss-communications or missed opportunities to reconnect? Have you experienced a traumatic event that has thrown each of you into isolation? Situations can happen which cause you to develop negative communication patterns and extreme misunderstandings. You did not come together to live alone. If you have been settling for living together as roommates, it may be time to reach out for professional help. Relationships can become distressed, or simply just get stuck. Cindy is here to listen, partner with you, and create a treatment plan specific to your needs. Couples counseling is tough work. If you are ready - I'm here to help and partner with you through it all. Come, begin your journey back in to the relationship you...(view profile to read more)

I see clients in relationships of all kinds. Whether you are in a poly relationship, you practice non-monogamy, or if you are in a traditional marriage, you are in the right place. I offer a non-judgmental space where we work as a team to improve communication, develop connection and understanding, and use real tools to better your relationship. I am more than a mediator-- I help each person communicate their true thoughts and true needs without conflict. Do you have intimacy issues and need sex therapy? I provide that service as well. Sex is part of every relationship and should always be a priority. Physical intimacy is vital and I can help you make improvements that stick over time.

My clinical approach to couples therapy consists of teaching emotional intelligence aimed at improving conflict resolution and communication skills. Therapy provides a safe environment for couples to explore their thoughts and feelings with the aim of understanding each others emotional needs. The goals of treatment consists of working on issues related to trust, communication, intimacy, parenting issues, and so on. Therapy helps client learn ways to address sensitive issues and helps clients learn how to discuss those issues. The clinical work consists of learning and understanding emotional intelligence and the ability to implement the skills for the sake of the relationship.

Research shows that couples come to therapy an average of 6 YEARS later than when the problems started; accordingly, they can be very hostile at the beginning of treatment. I work with highly conflict couples to reduce the reactivity through making them aware of the meaning they make of their partner's behavior in relationship. I also do discernment counseling for couples who are undecided if they want to stay in their marriage; pre-marital counseling for couples who are considering the important step of marriage; blended family couples counseling for couples who are coming together with children from previous relationships; and coaching to help divorcing couples to uncouple amicably.

Couples counseling is an amazing experience. Your relationship is my client and I will work closely with both of you to identify the relational dance you participate in, and how we can interrupt the negative patterns you engage in, and instead promote healthier ways of connecting and attaching. Couples therapy can be a really fun and pleasurable experience where you get to know more about your partner and also about your self. Couples therapy works in a stage process. I will be there along each step of the way helping to make sure that you guys are connecting. I will help to empower you both so that you may enhance and strengthen your most important relationship!

I am here to help couples through issues in their relationships to come to mutual understanding and empathy. I am LGBTQ+ allied and support all traditional and non-traditional relationship structures. I also offer non-denominational pre-marital counseling, helping couples prepare for this lifelong commitment by providing a safe space to share and understand each other’s values, needs, and desires for the relationship.

My style with relationships is empathetic, compassionate, and direct. Over the years, individuals fall into patterns and become accustomed to relating ways that may or may not be working. My job is to identify goals, illuminate those patterns, and discuss new ways of relating. Communication, Intimacy, Trust, Respect, and Life Transitions impact relationships. As we grow, who we are changes. Does your partner know who you are, what you truly want, and the spark that makes you... you? My goal is to rekindle pieces of the relationship that may be lost and move the relationship forward in the direction you choose. I work with couples ranging from high conflict to couples looking for a refresh.

Working with couples is a joy for me! I have a high success rate: approximately 90%. I help men and women make the transition from being single to being a unit, helping them learn to work together as a team. My primary aim is to make my clients feel at ease. I truly care about them and help them explore the underlying concerns and move forward to achieve the best possible results.

Relationship counseling can be beneficial to couples that are looking to strengthen their emotional connection, in all stages of their relationship. Therapy sessions are a place to explore what isn't working, heal areas of hurt, and find new ways to connect in healthier, more productive ways. Learning to communicate in new and more helpful ways is often a great starting point to making changes.

I believe that good relationships are built on secure attachments, ones that are engaged and emotionally responsive to one another. In my experience working with couples, and research supports this idea as well, a combination of strategies that teach them to be more accepting of each other while at the same time working to change some of their assumptions and automatic behaviors are at the root of change. I see this in my private practice with partners attacking, often forgetting what brought them together in the first place; I guide them back into each other's arms, and back into a safety zone with a combination of attachment and communication techniques that have shown to be effective.

Couples therapy should not be about hashing over old wounds. Getting what you want from a relationship involves good communication and active listening, tolerance and forgiveness, emotional intelligence, having common goals and working cooperatively and, like all the bets things in life, presents us with a challenge. Relationships can be hard work but the work is rewarding and life-enhancing. I love to work with couples who are committed to improving their future rather than reliving their past.

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.

What are the most common couples' issues? If you are thinking "communication, conflict, sex, money, child rearing" you are correct. However, most therapists will go after the symptom on each side of the couple fence thinking that the way to effective change is by getting each party to "work" on their respective "issue". Many times the parties dont agree but comply. Imagine if you could align the unconscious brains of a couple and stop the "working on your issues" part that has become so popular in therapy settings? Contact kevin@kevinflemingphd.com to learn how! Or call 877-606-6161 DR. FLEMING'S NEW RELATIONSHIP/COUPLES INTENSIVES www.kevinflemingphd.com/marriage-couples-retreats.php