Couple & Relationship Therapy

I love working with couples because so much real change is possible. My role is to help you move through the stuck and painful places in your relationship — not by smoothing things over, but by helping you see clearly, communicate honestly, and relate differently.

I specialize in working with couples who have reached an impasse and want to understand and shift long-standing relational patterns. This often involves exploring family histories, unmet needs, and the ways people-pleasing, conflict avoidance, codependency, or self-abandonment may be shaping your dynamic. I focus on building each partner’s capacity for differentiation — the ability to stay grounded in yourself while staying in relationship with one another. The process takes work, clarity, and courage — but the change it brings tends to last.

My style is direct and engaged. I’ll name what I see in the room — including how each of you may be reinforcing patterns that keep you stuck. The goal isn’t polite agreement or symptom relief, but meaningful transformation. I also offer short-term work for focused issues, as well as pre-marital or pre-commitment counseling for couples looking to clarify and strengthen their foundation.

Common Issues addressed in couples therapy

  • “Perpetual problems”- the same issues that keep coming up over and over

  • Feeling “stuck” or in a rut together

  • Conflict avoidance that has led to accumulated resentment in one or both partners

  • Struggles around expressing needs or holding boundaries

  • Difficulty finding resolution or progress after arguments

  • Inability to find repair after hurt

  • Prolonged disconnection and loneliness

  • Losing connection with yourself inside the relationship — abandoning your truth to maintain the peace (codependency)

  • Relationship enhancement, building and deepening what you already have

  • Relationship “tune-ups,” particularly during difficult transitions such as moving, deciding to have a child or starting a family, empty nest, family death, or chronic/sudden illness

  • Redesigning the relationship to reflect your current values, needs, and sense of self — especially after years of defaulting to old roles or expectations

  • Pre-marital/pre-commitment counseling to feel prepared and lay a solid foundation

  • Financial concerns

  • Sexual concerns - see more here

If you’re uncertain whether to stay or leave the relationship, we can engage in discernment counseling. This is a short-term, structured process designed for couples with mixed agendas — when one partner is leaning out and the other is still invested. The goal isn’t to save the relationship but to help you each make a clear and honest decision. We’ll slow things down, clarify how you arrived here, and explore the possibilities ahead. This typically includes 4–5 sessions of joint and individual work, and leads to one of three outcomes: continuing as-is, separating, or committing to a defined period of work with separation off the table.

While many of the couples I work with are in long-term or traditional partnerships, I also support those on less conventional paths — couples who are child-free, non-escalator, or redefining the shape of commitment. Whatever your structure, I work with you to design a relationship that reflects who you are now, not just what you’ve inherited or expected.

I do not work with with couples who are experiencing ongoing intimate partner violence and will provide the appropriate referrals if this becomes apparent.

If you are navigating the complexities of a divorce and/or issues of child custody, I will provide you with a referral list for therapists specializing in this area.