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

Specializing in couple therapy, I can help you and your partner work through difficult times such as affairs, broken relationship, losses, etc. As I am informed by Emotion Focused Therapy (which is effective in couple therapy), I can assist you in reaching out to your partner despite your fear and uncertainty. You will experience a closer and intimate relationship.

What concerns can we hope to address? ​ - Communication - Conflict - Infidelity - Building trust - Enhancing emotional intimacy - Opening up - Sexual issues We will utilize a combination of therapeutic modalities, interventions and approaches to help tailor the treatment to your specific needs, including: ​ - Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) - Gottman Method - Sex Therapy - Assess for strengths and vulnerabilities of your relationship - Assign homework activities (applying what you've learned outside of your sessions with structured exercises for reducing conflict, improving communication, and enhancing sexual intimacy) - Recommend individual therapy for one or both partners

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.

You can have an even better relationship! I work with you to identify what your issues are. We learn what your communication issues are, what is working and what is not in your relationship and implement practical action plans to improve this. Further, we identify your negative patterns of relating to each other and how this is a habit that hurts the relationship, and we learn how to get out of that pattern, shift behaviors, and relate in the most respectful, loving, kind manner which ultimately often improves your sex life, your happiness, and your fulfillment.

One of the biggest decisions we make in life is choosing our partner. And then the real work begins. Divorce rates speak to how difficult sustaining a healthy marriage can be. Evidence-based studies have shown essential elements to a healthy and nourishing relationship. Couples counselling focuses on a variety of these areas including, communication, conflict management/resolution, and connection. Presenting issues include communication, conflict, infidelity, parenting issues, separation and divorce.

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.

Shyamala has a Masters in Counselling and a Doctorate specifically in Marriage and Family Therapy. As a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, her expertise is in working with couple relationships. She practices Emotionally Focussed Therapy for couples; one of the most researched and effective ways to treat couple distress. Her goal is to help couples create secure and meaningful connections so that they no longer need the assistance of a couples therapist and are able to work through life's challenges on their own.

Relationship’s dynamics can be challenging to navigate even during the best of times, and couple therapy can help partners find new ways to relate, connect, and communicate with each other. Asking for what you want and need in a relationship can be scary, so therapy should be a safe space where you and your partner feel comfortable exploring your needs and expectations together. I work collaboratively with clients to identify and explore patterns of interaction that they want to strengthen or change in their relationships, as well as holding space for vulnerability and connection. Book a free consultation to learn more about my approach and explore if we are a good fit.

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.

If your relationship is struggling, I can help you both to view it in a different way, and to learn new skills to re-connect and recover the intimacy that can sometimes go missing. Most people will experience emotional problems at some point in their life, and all relationships can have conflict creep in and cause disconnection and distance. Despite theses difficulties, I can help you bring vitality back into your life, and build a deeper connection between you and your partner.

Family Systems theory is primarily focused on three areas. These are individuals, couples, and families (including children). Couples therapy focuses exclusively on the couple's dyad. This connection is affected by many factors: Past childhood experiences of family life, current parenting and grandparenting, blended families after a divorce, intimacy, sexuality, employment stress, financial obligations, and supporting your parents even when you are an adult. This list, though not exhaustive, points to the complexity of couplehood. My training is an evidence-based model utilizing tested interventions to support couples through times of transition or recognition. Book a free consultation

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.

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.

You are at the end of your rope. You love your partner, you don't want to end the relationship but your partner is so distant and disconnected, so you are looking for help. Perhaps you just found out the awful truth that your partner is having an affair. Maybe you have tried couple therapy before and things improved a bit then you found yourself back in the same sad stuck place. Couples often need help to find their way back to each other. Please visit my website or call me to find out how I can help you heal wounds and create the strong loving connection with your partner that you deserve.