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

Couples face many challenges and couples counseling can help couples of all types identify and work toward resolution of conflicts and ultimately improve their relationships. Couples counseling tends to focus on relationship building and/or rebuilding and typically includes both partners, although one partner may choose to initiate counseling alone and invite the other partner in when deemed appropriate, or not. The therapeutic process may focus on identification of values, needs, and roles within the relationship with the overall goals being focus on relational strengths, improved communication, and change in dysfunctional behaviors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 don’t 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

Happy couples aren't smarter, richer, or more psychologically astute than others. But in their day-to-day lives, they have hit upon a dynamic that keeps their negative thoughts and feelings about each other (which all couples have) from overwhelming their positive ones. They have what I'd call an emotionally intelligent relationship. The more emotionally intelligent a couple, the better able they are to understand, honor, and respect each other & their relationship. As I have recently become a Gottman 7 Principles Program Educator, my skills repertoire has grown exponentially. Contact me about The Seven Principles that guide couples on the path to a harmonious & long-lasting relationship!