Great Couples Counseling in Pahokee, FL. Therapy to heal relationships.

Life is about relationships. When you consider what makes most people happy or sad it is usually the health of their relationships. Your relationship may just be starting out, you may define it as a committed, exclusive one or you may be struggling through some marital conflicts. If you find yourself wondering how to make your relationship work as a couple, improve your communication, enhance and improve your relationship or perhaps you are just wondering if you can sustain a healthy relationship; don't battle alone. At Gateway we specialize in couple counseling and can help you as a couple.

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.

Are you feeling lonely in your own marriage? Disrespected? Misunderstood? It doesn’t have to stay this way. Far too often, high-achieving men feel disrespected and lonely within their own marriages. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I help men and their wives to rediscover the incredible value they bring to the marriage, and help them negotiate a hopeful path forward. I will help you identify destructive patterns in your marriage and provide healthier alternatives. I’ll help you improve communication, learn to fight fair, and increase understanding and connection. While it’s not easy work, there is hope. If given the chance, I would be honored to help you fight for your marriage.

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.

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.

When working with couples my approach is to listen without taking sides. Communication is typically the key to the misunderstandings, and learning to use “I statements” and communicating to be heard is taught in the sessions. I help each individual learn to see things from the other person's perspective by using role play in the sessions. Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy are often used with couples. Clients are given specific assignments to work on that helps them learn their own strengths and challenges as well as that of their partner. This helps them to appreciate what the other person brings to the relationship.

My couple therapy is for any couple with specific issues that are inhibiting or preventing functioning, communication or understanding. This includes couples who are partners and not married, married partners (of any sexual orientation), siblings, parent-child or unrelated friends. My experience of 50 years working with all types of couples integrates a number of techniques and is tailored to each couple, depending on the presenting issues and situation.