Great Couples Counseling in Bloomington, MN. Therapy to heal relationships.

It is very challenging and rewarding working with couples. Issues in our primary relationship can impact all aspects of our life. It can be single issue based or very pervasive. A strong component of all approaches to couples' issues is learning the ability to communicate. This skill has often retreated through years of hurt feelings, defensiveness, shame. We strive to repair any damage that has been done and develop a balanced, caring relationship where both peoples’ needs are being met.

Couple counseling is helping a couple to develop a number of key skills. These include communicating clearly, listening, emotional expression, negotiating, being respectful, managing conflict, problem solving and finding ways to negotiate how they connect and also how they create separation in healthy ways. Couples can get suck when these skills are not well developed. My approach to couple work is to assess the relationship strengths and build on these while teaching key skills and resolving the challenges the couple faces. While looking at old issues is useful at times, I generally focus on how to build a clear & hopeful future. My clinical approach is direct, supportive and active.

Relationships are our specialty. Couples counseling offers a dedicated space with an outside perspective to talk through the challenges your relationship is facing in a safe environment. A therapist can offer a fresh take on your issues, as well as tools and experiential learning to help create new ways of relating with one another. We know how challenging relationships can be. We want to help you find a more meaningful connection with your partner -- one that will last.

Want to bring back the joy and excitement you used to feel together? I help couples understand and negotiate differences in needs and feelings about a variety of issues, including communication, sex, family, shared time and future plans. You may be unsure whether you can work past the ways you've been hurt and trust each other again. Learning to stay present and listen to each other as you talk about your hopes and desires will bring you closer to the kind of relationship you really want. When you've gotten into the habit of feeling misunderstood and blamed, having a third party present to interrupt negative patterns and coach you to more effective conversations is key to creating change.

I provide support and practical feedback to help individuals and couples effectively address personal and relationship challenges. I integrate cutting edge techniques built to improve your relationship and take it to places you doubted were possible. With compassion and understanding, I work with each individual, couple and family to help them build on their strengths and attain the personal growth they are committed to accomplishing.

There is nothing as precious as your relationship. That’s why your relationship deserves Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). This is the treatment that years of research shows to be highly effective in helping couples improve their relationship, resolve conflicts, repair trust, and feel safe, loved and connected. EFT helps couples get to the heart of the matter. It is designed to stop the negative and stuck patterns in relationships, transforming them into the love, connection and understanding you desire.

I have had training in several models for couple's work. I mainly use RLT because it moves people fast and the model has a lot of overlap with other models that look at attachment and developmental trauma. Doing trauma work in the presence of your partner help build compassion and empathy, reducing the triggering that typically occurs in relationships. I can help improve communication, co-parenting and infidelity repair.

Couples therapy is my favorite work to do! Using Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), we will identify how you get stuck in the same arguments over and over, what underlying emotions and needs are unmet, and how to communicate on a deeper emotional level to feel more connected and understood. EFT works beautifully and leads to long lasting change! I can help you with conflict resolution, communication skills, sex and passion, infidelity and/or past hurts, creating meaning in your relationship, concerns related to extended family, parenting, or other issues. In our work together, you will be able to have the fulfilling, loving, and meaningful relationship you are hoping for.

CenterLife Counseling offers several therapists with years of experience in helping couples strengthen their relationship. With the busyness of our lives, we use up all of our time and energy just to keep moving forward. Unfortunately our relationships can be neglected. We have experience working with couples that have issues of parenting, infidelity, addiction, and significant illness. We respect the right of each partner in a relationship to decide what is best for them. Counseling can help you sort this out. Visit our website at http://www.centerlifecounseling.com for more information or to contact us for scheduling.

Having been trained in a systems approach to couples therapy, my focus will be on the negative pattern of interaction (the two way street) that causes your disconnect. As result, neither partner will feel blamed, but both partners will learn ways to show up as their best self. In session I will actively engage you so that you are learning by doing. With such experiences in session, it is easier to repeat positive behaviors for repair and connection at home. You will learn to advocate for yourself so that you are heard and seen even in the tough times. When crisis or affairs have afflicted a couple, we will be sure to do the work of healing so that you can move forward when ready.

Dr. McCarthy's approach of "Co–Coaching for Dynamic Growth" challenges many currently accepted beliefs about love/romance and what it takes to have a successful relationship: e.g. “you should just accept your partner and not try to change their behavior.” Rather, the relationship is seen as a dynamic growth process for learning how to become more loving partners through mutual coaching. Each partner seeks to clearly identify his or her own core negative relationship pattern and each helps the other change through mutual, respectful coaching. Couples previously unable to break longstanding recurring patterns learn to revitalize a new relationship of deep love and emotional connection!

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.

You feel unappreciated and lonely. You try so hard and things just do not seem to change. You feel like you talk and talk, perhaps promises are even made, and then a bit of time goes by and you feel right back where you started. You are losing hope. You are afraid to be vulnerable but doing nothing feels scary too. You are drained and discouraged. You are not sure what to do differently or if that will even help. I understand and I can help.