Communication Counseling

We’ve all heard the phrase “communication is key.” Yes! It is! Most of couple’s therapy, regardless of what the topic of choice is, will be focused on how a couple’s communicates and receives their expressed needs. The goal of couple’s counseling is to increase understanding of your partner, as well as increase empathy and compassion for your partner. Relationships often lead to power struggles and unmet needs — our goal is to collaborate and get you to a place where you learn to express your needs, as well as gain the ability to understand and meet the needs of your partner. We will learn to communicate without criticism or blame that leads to defensiveness, in order to truly process the messages our partner is trying to send and be able to validate their emotions and experiences.

Sex or Intimacy Therapy

Counseling for sex and intimacy can be requested for many different reasons. Intimacy and sex is a major source of contention in relationships if one or both partners are not satisfied sexually or intimately. We insist on maintaining a safe and non-judgmental environment for you to discuss your intimate and sexual preferences (all of your kinks included!) Intimacy or sex therapy can be conducted in order to gain communication skills around sexual needs, assist with navigating nontraditional relationships, or working through differing libidos or sexual preferences within a relationship dynamic. We will help you build healthy sexual boundaries, and learn how to get your sex life back to a place where you can both enjoy each other. Sex should be a stress reliever, not a stress inducer, so let’s learn what you like!

Couple’s Therapy When a Partner Has Experienced Trauma

When your partner has been through extensive trauma, such as abuse or sexual assault, their behavior is likely to change due to symptoms of PTSD. Navigating how to support a person who has a history of trauma is not an easy path. The last thing you want to do is conduct a behavior that will trigger the one that you love. You want to be there to support them, but you don’t know how. Lack of understanding how to manage trauma or PTSD in a relationship can lead to significant conflict and distance within your relationship. A history of sexual assault can particularly complicate issues within a couple’s sexual relationship. All you want is to return to a normal level of functioning in intimacy with your partner. Therapy will assist you in learning how to reconnect while managing trauma triggers.

Premarital Counseling

Getting ready for marriage is one of the biggest commitments you are going to make in your lifetime. Congratulations! However, when it comes to preparing for a wedding, many factors appear that can cause distress in a relationship, including planning for the future. Many couple’s have a tendency to avoid the difficult conversations that lead up to lifelong decisions. Some of the issues couple’s choose to focus on in premarital counseling are money management, parenting expectations, boundaries with friends and family, or expected religion and traditions. Premarital counseling will help you determine your roles in your marriage and how your beliefs impact each other’s livelihoods on a long-term basis. Pre-marital counseling will help you set your expectations for marriage, leading to a stronger foundation and better understanding of each other’s wants and needs.

Divorce or Break-Up Counseling

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, relationships just don’t work out. You deserve to be happy, whether that is with or without your current partner. One of the most important factors of couple’s therapy actually understands that not all couple’s or marriages are meant to stay together. If there are certain prominent issues that one or both partners are not able to move past in the relationship, ending the relationship may be the best option for your mental health. Breakups and detaching from a primary partner is not an easy process, particularly with those with a history of attachment or abandonment issues. Couple’s with children who need to break-up or divorce have an even more complex dynamic of learning how to co-parent, as well as communicate with their children about divorce. Therapy can assist with making the break as clean as possible, to move forward with your lives in as peaceful of an ending as we can.