Great Couples Counseling in Kensington, NY. Therapy to heal relationships.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with years of training and experience helping couples to navigate the most painful and difficult chapter in their relationships. I will guide you with compassion, empathy, and a skill set that is born in working with couples across the country in their healing journeys. I have been featured in Forbes, the Knot, and other leading media outlets discussing relationships, intimacy, and communication. I’d love to connect with you and your partner about the unique circumstances that you are facing and how I might be able to help.

The first step is to do a free couple’s assessment. In this session we’ll get clear on what has been difficult for both of you and how have you have been feeling. We will look at what the most important things that you have not been getting from your relationship. Then we will determine what makes a relationship for you and what would potentially break up a relationship. In closing we will go over what does work about the relationship and I will teach you a method that will help a woman learn to speak to men and for men to know how to speak to a woman.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples focuses on strengthening the emotional bond between partners. Through structured sessions, we explore underlying patterns and attachment needs driving relationship dynamics. Using interventions aimed at fostering empathy and understanding, we facilitate open communication and emotional expression. Couples learn to recognize and address negative interaction cycles, replacing them with healthier patterns of connection and responsiveness. EFT emphasizes creating a secure attachment bond, fostering feelings of safety and trust within the relationship. By deepening emotional intimacy and building a stronger connection, couples experience wellness.

Couples are my passion and all I work with. We look at the negative cycles fueled by communication, money, parenting & blended families, careers, health, and/or sex/intimacy. When was the last time you had an open conversation with your partner that wasn't hijacked by your negative relationship cycle? I am also an affair specialist and have worked with countless couples to sift through the incredible pain to see if there is anything left of the relationship to be salvaged (in most cases, there is). I have met many couples who come in as roommates, where deep wounds are present. Couples feel like my office is a safe place to share, connect, and be heard.

Couples, married or not, seek therapy for many reasons; including hoping to resolve differences, hoping to improve communication, and/or hoping to improve their intimate relationship. My work with couples, enhanced by my training in sex therapy, addresses these issues so as to help the individuals within the relationship more effectively express themselves and more effectively understand their partner, and so as to promote the overall strength and joy in the relationship itself.

Sometimes members of a couple get stuck in their old relational patterns, the ways they have always related to others. As years pass by, and romance or sexual experiences diminish or other life events happen, the old patterns become more evident leading to gaps in communication, dissatisfaction, and lack of excitement. As a therapist, I will help you to communicate more effectively with your partner, in ways that acknowledge your personal needs and the needs of the other. I will help you find balance between conflicting needs: the needs of the individual and the needs of a couple. I work with straight couples and GLBT couples.

I provide couples counseling that emphasizes that there are two separate individuals contributing to one couples dynamic. Therefore I strive to understand how each member of the couple functions and how this impacts the relationship. The goal is to determine if the couple can learn how to complement one another in a manner that will maximize relationship satisfaction.

Couples can be premarital, marital, same sex, transgender, lesbian or gay. Couples can be sexually involved, emotionally involved, or both. I love working with couples of all types! There are many themes that occur with couples that can cause problems, such as money, power, sexuality, children (if there are any), in-laws/family, friends, values, etc. I am experienced in working with couples of all kinds and helping you create better communication and intimacy. When you are in therapy, you will feel heard and respected in a way that you may not be able to feel without a facilitator. I will make sure that each of you have a forum to express yourselves respectfully.

It wasn't always this way. There was a time you looked forward to being with each other. You both trusted and enjoyed each other's company. You felt understood and accepted for being yourself. In couple's counseling, Hal offers you the opportunity to find the hidden strengths in the heart and soul of your relationship. Hal has helped hundreds of couples to improve communication and increase trust. Hal is very well respected and experienced in couple's counseling. In addition, he is a published author and was invited to appear on David Letterman's Late Night television program. Hal's schedule is flexible and appointments are available on evenings and weekends. Call Hal at (516) 439-4282

Anger is not an aphrodisiac nor is it helpful in getting more of what you want. Couples in conflict often focus too much energy on changing their partner. The problem is that each partner does not have direct control over the other. The way out is of this dilemma is to learn how to not get so upset over what you dislike in your partner. I teach each partner how to improve their relationship by first modifying their own behavior. By having better control over your emotional and behavioral reactions you can more constructively communicate, negotiate and influence your partner. I teach you how to get your message across and positively influence your partner so that you can enjoy the results!

Careers and children each place enormous stress on a couple’s ability to be together in an intimate and satisfying way. Every couple has different ways of dealing with the challenges, and counseling can provide the perspective and encouragement to re-create a shared vision for the future. For something as important as this, it is surprising how little training and preparation is provided; family therapy fills in the blanks, and resolves the confusion.

There are countless models of healthy romantic relationships, from monogamous to polyamorous, and unique variations between partners. The scripts for dating and longterm relationships of our parents’ generations may not be applicable to your relationship, and there is no formal education in how to be a good partner or how to identify unhealthy relationships. But there is psychological research that shows that effective communication, emotional openness, intimacy, and other factors contribute to healthy relationships. Creating these conditions are skills that can be learned. I practice brief humanistic and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) to help my LGBTQ and hetero clients learn these skills.

Did your partner have an affair? Lost Love? Control Issues. Relationships can be saved if both partners are willing to work in therapy and the counselor is skilled with working with all personality types. Chris Colasuonno has provided couples, relationship and marriage counseling to hundreds of clients offering a direct but safe approach. Generally, most issues start and end with effective communication that Chris helps each partner work on. Chris works on lowering the cycle of arguing and analyzes the contributory factors that cause the partners to argue. Many times the past issues come into or cause future arguments Allow Chris to build trust, love, and communication in your relationship.

I use the Gottman Method of couples counseling for couples, whether you're partners or married, this approach has been backed by 40 years of research to be successful. It includes an extensive intake process since each couple is unique, a feedback session, and from there specified exercises and tools to target the areas of your relationship that can be improved.

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

I aim to create a safe space where you and your partner can explore your feelings and concerns, as well as identify negative communication and behavior patterns that may be causing conflict. You can learn new skills for resolving disagreement and strengthen your connection. You can talk about your expectations, values, and goals for the relationship, as well as any past hurts or resentments that may be impacting your current dynamic. Together, we can focus on promoting healthy communication, building trust and intimacy, breaking unhealthy cycles, and ultimately enhance the quality of the relationship.

I use my vast experience to help couples in their early 20s to late 70s, of all genders and sexual orientations to understand each other and communicate effectively. Whether the conflicts are emotional, sexual, or financial, I am there for you to help you navigate the waters, leading to a satisfying relationship. Couples counseling and premarital counseling can empower you to bring more joy into your life and can help prevent the heartache and the tremendous cost of divorce.

You know relationships are meant to offer love and care...Yet your connections are rimmed with insecurity, worry, doubt and a feeling of instability. You're not sure if there's something about way you interact in relationships or if it's related to the people you're around. Research proves that the biggest predictor of a happy, long life is the quality of relationships you're in. You're ready to clear the fog, and build solid connections.

Our dedicated couples counselors, through the educational and insightful works of Dr. John Gray, the best-selling author of “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” and the techniques of other renowned leaders in field of counseling, will actively assist and support a couple to have a healthier, more fulfilling, happier relationship through mutual respect, good communication, and trust. Our couples counselors will be there every step of the way as relationships grow and evolve for the better. Through empathetic active talking and listening, our couples counselors will promote a healthy change in the relationship and help you heal and forgive past inner hurts. You will be educated on what you and your partner really need in a relationship by learning...(view profile to read more)

Each couple is unhappy in its own way, but the core of the unhappiness is always miscommunication. Generally each member of a couple brings bad communication habits to the relationship and these habits clash. I use an eclectic approach to couples therapy that combines the latest research, utilizing psychoanalysis, role playing, role reversal, video and practice in constructive communication skills. In time, couples learn to communicate in a way that leads to resolution, not conflict.

What makes working with you as a couple different than you as two individuals is the fact that your relationship has an identity separate from, and dependent on you. In fact, the health of your relationship has a great deal to do with how much you acknowledge the distinction between yourself as an individual and who you are a part of a relationship. In our work together, you and your partner will begin to differentiate yourselves as individuals from who you are in your relationship so that you can begin to nurture both.

Drawing close in intimacy in a couple can be challenging. Being close to another person can result in buttons getting pushed in areas of the self that were never resolved. Despite the challenge, we deeply want to feel intimacy in life. Intimacy in relationship, while often challenging, is one of the greatest opportunities for growth. Caring, compassionate communication between partners opens each person to deeper feeling, connection, and expression. These capacities are crucial for a fulfilled life. I help you learn genuine communication expressing your needs while respecting and caring for your partner. These fulfilling communications lead to a better relationship and a better life.

Relationship can bring great joy as well and great challenges. Many problems stem from difficulty communicating with your partner. I can assist you in finding the way to express yourself, as well as the capacity to listen; to find the appropriate boundaries that enable you to feel free while staying connected. Working through conflicts in relationships often not only preserves the relationship, but also empowers each individual to be more confident and open in their own life.

I specialize in working with one partner to assist in that person’s ability to view their relationship in a different way. Creating more self awareness, and to prepare them for couples counseling with an open mind or to understand their goals going in. Depending on the nature of the relationship issue I can meet with both clients and do therapy however, my speciality is to get a client into the head space for couples therapy. I do not specialize in physical / domestic abuse or court ordered cases ( as I am virtual ) thank you. Please see someone in person or go to my resources page … https://www.inspireamind.net/resources/helplines/

It's important that you know that I don't take sides or engage in blaming either partner. I understand that you are in my office because you want help. I get to know the couple as individuals and as a couple. So in addition to meeting together, I would meet individually with both partners. We would come up with a treatment plan, including frequency of meeting and schedule, treatment goals, and what each person wants from the therapy. We might focus on identifying feelings, changing toxic communication patterns, and opening up communication.