Great Couples Counseling in Pingree Grove, IL. Therapy to heal relationships.

Many kinds of couples find their way to counseling with me. I see married couples, couples with step and blended families, new and old couples, co-habiting couples, bisexual and gay couples, swinging couples, and premarital couples. I enjoy working with the interplay between partners. Most clients come in to better their communications and lessen specific conflict s around decisions and patterns of behavior. Many come in to struggle about separation, divorce and infidelity. Couples who see me usually understand their personal issues more fully and know more about their partner then before counseling. They tend to feel more connected, warm and more respectful of one another.

Couples counseling can be beneficial to any couple in a committed relationship. If both partners are willing to participate, counseling can be effective regardless of sexual orientation, age, race or length of time spent together. Couples will benefit from tracking progress as it helps to promote emotional awareness, communication, and healthy changes in behavior. Couples counseling can benefit clients dealing with trust issues, financial burdens, resentment/unresolved issues, infidelity, transition phases and countless other challenges effecting the relationship.

Infidelity. Communication. Past emotional injury. Criticism and Defensiveness. These issues are by far the most common issues in couples across demographics and locations. Yet, no two couples are the same. Each relationship interacts, relates and communicates in different ways; and each couple will heal differently. In addition, couples from the LGBTQIA, poly/nonmonogamy & kink community often face additional societal or family-related challenges that often impact the relationship. By reconnecting you emotionally, we'll work as a team to improve your communication, heal past injuries, revitalize intimacy, rebuild trust and create new pathways of love & acceptance.

In my psychotherapy practice, I create a safe, empathetic environment for individuals to explore and address their concerns. My approach to couples counseling emphasizes improving communication, understanding, and intimacy. I use evidence-based techniques to help couples resolve conflicts, rebuild trust, and strengthen their relationship. Through tailored interventions, I guide partners in developing healthier dynamics and deeper connections, fostering mutual growth and lasting positive change in their relationship.

I utilize and implement aspects of the Gottman approach to helping couples heal. I assist each person in the couple in helping them recognize how they communicate with and impact the other, and how some communication patterns are ineffective. I assist couples in finding effective communication strategies, healthy interaction and intimacy patterns, while building trust and respect for one another.

Suspecting an affair? Have you just learned that your spouse wants a divorce? These are the types of crises situations that Kari Hunter specializes in. A relationship counselor for 25 years, she has worked with all types of couples to help them navigate the many difficulties that go along with love and partnership. Whether your relationship can benefit from conflict-resolution skills, communication coaching, or intimacy enrichment, don't wait until small problems become a crisis. But if you have gotten to the point of contemplating a break-up, there is a new service for that too, it is called Discernment counseling and it helps couples come to a mutual confident decision about the future.

Being in a couple is a dream-come-true for most individuals. Yet, when the romance, over time (generally 6 months to 2 years), melds into the routine, lovers feel lost, lonely, and long for the past. What does this pattern mean on the developmental, life-long path of a couple? Feeling attracted is Step 1. Making a commitment to each other is Step 2. Disillusionment is Step 3 before you (Step 4) shake up your beliefs about a "happy marriage." How could you and your partner rejuvenate and inspire your commitment? I can help you understand the Steps with powerful ideas for you to start applying today. If you spouse isn't ready, you can lead the way!

What are the barriers to your individual and shared experience of life? What are the factors that can best aid you in achieving your desire for a harmonious union in your relationship. Frequently communication is a starting point that reflects individual challenges in effectively addressing emotional needs, forms of co-dependency, and long-standing ineffective habits. Working from treatment methods informed by the treatment theories of John Gottman, I seek to help clients learn to speak and interact in ways that reflect their vision for the relationship and not the unexamined habits of the past.

In helping your coupleship become more satisfying, I first want to hear your story--how you met, your journey to date, both the highs and the lows. Then together we will identify your strengths, issues that have become problematic, what skills you have already, those to add or enhance for the future, and strategies to work through any special difficulties or remaining woundedness. Collaboratively, we will develop a plan to encourage and give you hope that you can still make your relationship all that it can be!

We can help you create and sustain a close, honest and mutually satisfying relationship you deserve. Whether you are struggling with profoundly serious relational patterns, sexual challenges, communication problems, or just a few bumps in your road, our method of couples counseling can move you from pain, silence or anger to passion, restoration and love. Use the menu as ideas to discuss with your therapist your specific desires and goals to create the relationship you want. There is no problem too difficult, too deep, or too ingrained that cannot benefit from counseling. No matter what stage in your relationship, from the first spark to healing ongoing wounds we can help. Communication Therapy All couples create negative patterns of communication...(view profile to read more)

All relationships have their challenges, you are not alone. If you are you are seeking to overcome a challenging time in your relationship or you desire a more intimate connection with your partner counseling will help. My approach to therapy will give you the tools to reduce frustration, improve communication, establish trust and build intimacy. Most marriages, mine included, go through rocky times. But that doesn't necessarily mean the marriage is over. Working through your challenges will help strengthen you as a couple. Say goodbye to your relationship of the past and open your mind to a new kind of relationship with the same partner!

Many issues bring a couple to seek counseling such as communication issues, cheating/trust issues, constantly fighting, wanting to improve whats already good, and many more. My approach includes working with both of you to help you learn new ideas and skills to improve your relationship. My goal is not to take sides but instead to help each of you understand your partners perspective even if you don't agree with it.

Communication barriers and conflict are present in all relationships and it is most important to work through these issues together and in a way that supports growth and fosters love in relationships. In therapy I can provide techniques and a space for you to practice utilizing more effective ways to communicate that allows both people to feel heard and understood. I am available to help you work through conflicts and relationships goals in a safe space together.

I use a systems approach to couples and family therapy and often explore the communication patterns, roles, and rules of the couple or family. I help couples examine the interactions and/or dynamics of the relationship that are working and the patterns and/or interactions that are not. As opposed to continuing to blame his/her partner, I ask individuals to assess his/her part of the difficulties in the relationship and help them identify areas that he/she can work on to improve their relationship. Ultimately, the only thing one has control over is his/her own behavior or his/her part of the problem in the relationship.

Marriage counseling can be scary, not knowing what to expect. I take the time to make sure that each person feels understood. Often this is what people want the most in order to feel resolve issues and feel closer. Secondly, people want to stay calm but do not always know how. Thirdly, most prefer creative proposals to solve problems versus debates. Having a communication coach, and an understanding of how your past affects the present can make the difference. We also provide premarital assessments and counseling.

Communication, trust, and vulnerability are essential parts of a relationship. However, sometimes priorities and values get misaligned and couples find themselves growing apart instead of together. Our approach is realigning the relationship dynamics and restoring healthy and effective communication patterns to support vulnerable spaces and trust. In doing so, you may step into a healthy space with your partner. However, this change can only occur with vulnerability, respect, trust, and willingness to change.

In the stress of daily life and struggles, couples often forget why they love each other. They lose perspective and only feel anger and hopelessness. This is not what God wants for your relationship. Couples therapy involves looking at the communication patterns and baggage that keeps you stuck but will also help you remember and regain the love and understanding for the one you love.

Accepting and celebrating the differences that make up a couple can bring joy to any relationship. Validating emotions and not having to understand them reduces the amount of fighting that will take place. Watching for areas of stonewalling, contempt, defensiveness and criticism will allow communication to continue and not shut someone down or up. Learning how to repair a relationship on a daily bases will keep it on the road for many years.

Is your relationship not where you thought it would be? Are you having problems with communication and misunderstandings? Has life gotten in the way of your relationship? Relationships take work and with careers, children and life in general, it is not uncommon for relationships to get off track. Collaboratively, we can work to improve communication and find that spark that initially attracted the two of you in the first place. We can discover ways to reawaken and relight the hopes and dreams you had for your relationship. For more information, please contact me or visit my website.