Great Couples Counselling in Kleinburg, ON. Therapy to heal relationships.

A satisfying relationship is one of life's greatest pleasures. The good news is we have the research available to know the predictors of relationship success and demise. Let me work with you to gain insight into the strengths in your relationship and provide you with the skills to overcome the challenges to create the relationship experience you each desire.

Your partner can be the greatest source of strength in your life, but at times can also feel like your greatest enemy. I believe that the people closest to us often bear both the best and worst sides of us. Together, we will explore your relationship and navigate disagreement, conflict, and trust to find a path for the relationship to offer collaboration, peace, and companionship.

Relationships are work in which both parties have to be committed to resolving any arising issues. Often, a lack of communication, having unsatisfied emotional needs and expectations causes constant arguments between couples. Therefore, couples seek outside help when they are unable to resolve the conflict between themselves due to other issues or underlying conflict. In therapy discussing each other’s thoughts and feelings about the issues helps couples to get to know each other once again and also help them to better understand their spouse as well as themselves. As a result, the couple may acknowledge the root of the disruption and the changes needed to mend the relationship.

My approach is to help people recognize that relationships are two-sided and understand how each individual contributes to the couple’s dynamic. With that understanding, we work toward reaching a win-win situation, aiming to restore the satisfaction of the relationship. Together, we create a safe space for you to grow past the areas of “stuckness” -- that is, the old patterns that are learned when we are young and are brought to our current relationships. This is true for all of us. Therapy enables us to form new and healthy attachment patterns that are nourishing and nurturing, providing opportunities for new growth and satisfaction.

A loving relationship can be a source of profound connecting and security, and as with many aspects of life worth pursuing, it requires nurturing. While I do not offer couple therapy sessions, we have many couple and family therapists at Psychotherapy Collective, my online clinic who are availability to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to ensure they are the proper fit for your journey. Visit our website to book a free couple consultation https://www.psychotherapycollective.ca/services/couple-therapy

Dr. Van Blyderveen offers Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples. This approach is evidence based and has a greater success rate than traditional couple's therapy. Therapy will focus on improving communication through creating and strengthening your emotional bond with one another. During therapy sessions Dr. Van Blyderveen will guide you and your partner through emotional conversations with one another with the goal of improving closeness, connection, and acceptance of one another.

Marriage and significant relationships have more pressure on them than ever before. In a technology based, social networking world with financial pressures and other major issues, couples need to put increasingly more time and effort into nourishing their relationship. Many do not take that time. As a result, relationships become “stuck’ or even “toxic” over time. In sessions, couples will learn how to interact and relate to each other on a deeper level. They will learn effective communication skills, strategies and tools. Couples will also participate in learning about their own specific ways of showing love and their own love style.

When working with couples, I use several approaches to treatment including PACT and RLT. You may find that out work together is different than previous experiences you have had in couples therapy. Through our work together, you and your partner will discover how to stay connected, help each other feel safe and secure, manage each other’s emotional highs and lows, fight well and minimize each other’s stress. Longer sessions allow us to go deeper, getting to the heart of the issues you are facing and allowing time for repair to occur in session. Learn to have a secure relationship where both partner’s needs are met.

Are you and your partner struggling with communication, trust, or expectations in your relationship? Whether you are working through a specific conflict, preparing for a big relationship change, or want to improve your communication as a couple, I offer a practical and non-judgemental therapeutic space to help you get to where you both want to be in a timeframe that works for you.

When it comes to couples, the total is greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, in couple therapy, the focus is not on the two sides of the equation. Rather, the object of inquiry and therapy is the relationship between those two sides. The therapy examines the interpersonal relationship and treats it as a third space. Therefore, the goal is not to change the individuals but to change the way they communicate, understand, and accept each other. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

I use 9 steps of Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) to help couples identify their negative interaction cycle and each partner's role in that cycle. Steps 1-4 entails empowering the couples to access unacknowledged emotions underlying the interactional positions and to reframe the challenges in terms of underlying feelings and attachment needs. Steps 5-7 entails supporting and mediating couples to change interactional positions and creating new bonding experiences. Steps 8-9 entails encouraging the couples to integrate new solutions to old relational problems.

As human beings we are hard wired for connection, yet many of us struggle in our most meaningful relationships for many reasons including betrayal, infidelity, blended families and other conflicts. Through 30 years of work we have recognized that often couples leave their relationship at the time they have the most to learn. Our team of therapists are trained to implement a variety of skills and techniques when working with couples, such as active listening skills, Imago, Gottman’s principals, managing emotions, and positive communication skills.

Satisfying relationships require effective communication, respect, mutuality, and consideration. Couples need to be responsive to the needs of the relationship and responsive to the needs of each individual within the relationship. Skills are not taugh in life and often need to be learned as we go. These relational skills need to be learned and are learned best in relationships. Some people are fortunate enough to learn some of these skills in their families of origin, the rest of us learn as we go, so to speak. A relationship therapist can be a real asset in helping to acquire these important skills. In addition to relationship skills we may also need help understanding our behaviours.

Relationships are very complex. They have the potential to enrich our lives if we let them. They require flexibility and compromise, good communication skills, and an awareness of ourselves as individuals. A couple is made up of two unique individuals who come from very different family backgrounds and who bring diverse beliefs and perspectives into the relationship. It's no wonder that difficulties arise. It is common for partners to get caught up in negative, destructive cycles that unless stopped, can propel the relationship into greater disharmony. Couples therapy can lead to a deeper and more meaningful relationship.

Romantic relationships are both beautiful and complex. It is the weaving of two threads of individual stories, dreams, fears, and aspirations. Successful couples counseling isn't imposing a 'right' way to love or the creation of uniform guidelines for all relationships. It's about respecting the unique dance between you and your partner. You'll gain tools for enhanced courageous communication and conflict resolution during vulnerability while fostering a relationship embedded in genuineness, mutual respect, and deep caring.

Sometimes it can feel like you and your partner aren't on the same page. You can have the same conversation over and over again, but things don't change. In our time together, we will be uncovering the root of the issues and implementing strategies that will improve communication. We will also be focused on reestablishing a sense of security, safety, validation, and acceptance for one another.

There are many reasons why couples seek therapy. You may be experiencing communication problems that keep coming, feeling constantly criticized, not feeling heard, feeling emotionally distant from your partner, fighting over the same issues, feelings of anger and jealousy, feeling controlled by your partner, and differences in parenting styles. Couples therapy can help you strengthen your bond by learning healthy ways to communicate your needs, identify stuck patterns and learn new ways to be with each other. Often a few sessions is all that is needed for a “reset”.

In couples counseling with me, the focus is on enhancing the relationship dynamics and communication patterns between partners, regardless of marital status. By providing a safe and supportive space, I facilitate open dialogue, empathy-building exercises, and conflict resolution techniques tailored to the unique needs and goals of each couple. Whether navigating challenges related to intimacy, trust, or life transitions, couples counseling offers an opportunity for couples to deepen their connection, strengthen their bond, and cultivate a more fulfilling partnership. Through collaborative exploration and skill-building, couples can gain insight into their relationship dynamics and heal.

Is your relationship feeling strained, distant, or stuck in a cycle of conflict? Maybe the routine has become mundane and you feel like you've both lost the spark. I offer a safe and nurturing space to rebuild trust, enhance communication, and strengthen the bond between you and your partner. Relationships today face unique pressures, and require a tailored and creative response. I use tools of nonviolent communication and relational psychodynamics to address the underlying issues that contribute to relationship discord. By working with me, you can resolve conflict, communicate your needs, and experience a renewed bond. Take your first step towards a happier, healthier relationship.

Couples Counselling Most relationships will become strained at some point and will begin producing maladaptive patterns. Relationship problems are rooted in our distorted egos, insecure attachment, emotional immaturity etc., which create to the many issues that develop for couples - infidelity, financial stress, poor communication, ill health, sexual divergence, household responsibility conflicts, addictions, etc., .... or just simply growing apart. Relationships can often be restored if help is sought soon enough. A counsellor can help reorient perceptions and emotions (how we look at a situation and how we feel about it) and assist the couple in adopting conscious structural changes.

Healthy relationships take commitment & work. I help couples increase emotional intimacy & connection. I help them stop unhelpful ways of interacting, achieve resolution to their unresolved conflicts, & take responsibility for their negative contributions to patterns. Couple relationships require re-committing ourselves to each other repeatedly throughout the length of our relationship. I will help you to learn to "turn towards" one another. I will also help you to eliminate the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a phrase coined by couple researches John and Julie Gottman. Lastly, all couple relationships include pursuer-distancer patterns. I will help you identify these and work to stop them.

Couples therapy is expected to lead to increased satisfaction and stability in a relationship. As your therapist, our common goals include improved conflict resolution, enhanced problem solving and communication, and clarification of individual roles and needs. In our journey through treatment, I can be your advisor, expert, coach, educator, facilitator, observer, diagnoser and many other roles. Email me or Call me for a 15 min free initial consult; I am accepting new clients !

I provide a safe and empathetic space where both partners can explore and address the challenges they are facing in their relationship. Through a combination of evidence-based modalities such as EFT, Gottman Method Couples Therapy, and communication skills training, I assist couples in enhancing their emotional connection, improving communication, and resolving conflicts. By fostering understanding, promoting effective problem-solving, and facilitating healing, couples can experience increased intimacy, stronger bonds, and a renewed sense of love and partnership. Together, we work towards creating a healthier and more fulfilling relationship that supports long-term growth and happiness.

Relationships can be both satisfying, and frustrating. Although we can get along with some people some of the time, in close relationships we can sometimes get stuck, over-reactive, or even too distant. In couple counselling we can explore what's not working in your relationship, what your individual and 'couple' ideals and dreams are, and then strategize and work together on getting your relationship to a better place.

This service is not solely for romantic partners, which is why I use the term 'Relationship Counselling' and not 'Couples Counselling'. The relationship involved may be between co-workers, family members or two individuals in a professional or business arrangement. Relationship counselling involves guiding the members of a human relationship in order to enhance what is working, improve communication, and address areas of disconnect or conflict.