Great Couples Counseling in Lake City, FL. Therapy to heal relationships.

Couples counseling…whether you are a married couple, a living-together couple, a same-sex couple or a couple of friends...will help clarify individual wants, needs and expectations when your relationship seems to be going sour. It will also offer a template for healthy relationships. Then through our time together we will consider ways to accommodate your wants, needs and expectations in a manner that honors healthy relating. The health of a relationship is only as good as the health of the individual.

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.

In my work with couples, I view the relationship through the lens of attachment theory. The person we chose to be our partner, may become our "secure home base" as your relationship grows to be a healthy partnership to celebrate, depend on and lean on through the ups and downs of life. I view couples counseling as working with three entities: both partners and the relationship. The relationship you both share becomes my focus as we all collaborate together to bring forth the best relationship you can imagine. I look forward to working with you both. I use EMDR, Emotion Focused Therapy and Expressive Arts in my work with Couples.

Couples work is unique and interesting. What a lot of people don't understand it that of course you have different viewpoints - you are in different bodies, have different life experiences and are actually looking at different views! Many times the problem is simply communication: no matter how many times you tell your partner what you need, they just don't hear it. That is where I come in- helping people to get heard and also to hear clearly! In this way there can be a softening and a coming together, with both partners feeling loved and understood. You don't have to continue fighting, and counseling doesn't mean you failed. It is a gift you give your relationship to help nurture it.

We are passionate about and skilled with helping couples to repair and strengthen their relationship by utilizing techniques from evidence-based practices such as Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy and the Gottman Method. These techniques help get to the heart of the matter to increase relationship satisfaction and heal emotional injuries that may have occurred throughout the relationship or as a result of previous trauma. Individual therapy for each partner is also recommended as best practice for helping each person to work through their personal traumas.

Do you have the same argument over and over again? Are you feeling alone, misunderstood, or disrespected in your marriage? I can help you work through these issues through couples counseling, and help you break the unhealthy patterns that aren’t working. Renewing trust, improving communication, and regaining the spark are all possible. Being married myself, I know that marriage is work, and that love is a choice. But even intelligent, loving couples sometimes need support. You deserve better than what’s happening now. If you’re willing to put in the work, I can help. Our mission is to help you escape the cages that hold you back and become the lion you were created to be.