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

Working with couples is the reason I first decided to become a therapist. A majority of my caseload consists of couples. In my approach, I help couples establish or re-establish a connection with each other, and change the environment of their relationship. I don't find it helpful to focus on specific issues that drive fights. Rather, I will help you understand the process working beneath the surface. This process has kept you locked in one dance. The good news is that either one of you can choose to change that dance!

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.

The frustration of feeling misunderstood by a partner can lead to intense emotions and disconnection. In our sessions, will work together to increase awareness of your needs and dig deep to understand where those needs come from. Through that deeper understanding of yourself and your partner, intimacy and connection feels more natural and safe. As your therapist, I will help you communicate in ways you each can hear and strive to provide a safe, non-judgemental space where couples can share honestly and openly.

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.

I use many different therapeutic approaches in my work with couples, including my training in the work of Drs. John and Julie Gottman, and the work of Dr. Sue Johnson (Emotionally Focused Couples Counseling). I help couples improve communication, reduce conflict and argument, increase commitment and passion, heal from infidelity and other breaches of trust, and reach better understanding on financial, sexual, child-raising and discipline, and blended family issues.

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.

As a husband, and father of 7 children, I know firsthand not only the blessings, but also the challenges that come with family life. I enjoy working with couples, helping them improve communication, rebuild trust, and restore intimacy. I use an honest and supportive approach in session, and can provide Christian counseling for those that desire it.