Working with couples ~ Relationship Therapy & Couples Coaching
Your relationship matters!
Are you struggling with relationship, marital or family issues? Are you wanting to improve or enhance your relationship? Perhaps you’re both at a crossroads where your future as a couple seems uncertain? Maybe you’re considering separating or divorce? Are you feeling hurt, disconnected, stuck, anxious, frustrated, angry, lonely, misunderstood, overwhelmed, sad or scared? Are you struggling to communicate, connect, manage conflicts or difficult emotions, heal from loss of trust or an infidelity, establish or maintain healthy boundaries, manage family issues or adapt to change, life events or transitions?
From surviving to thriving…
How we relate to and connect with others has a huge impact on our overall wellbeing, how we feel and think about ourselves, about others, how we develop, grow, and shape our lives.
When it comes to couples therapy, I specialise in providing highly collaborative, bespoke, fair, balanced, and safe experiences where both partners feel understood, valued & supported. My therapeutic style is flexible, dynamic, and creative focusing on the expectations, needs and personalities of the individuals and couple as a whole.
My therapeutic approach is pluralistic, meaning I draw on a wide range of evidence based therapeutic interventions (including CBT, solution focused, emotion focused, experiential, psychodynamic, acceptance and commitment therapy, attachment theory and family systems theory) while also embracing a developmental perspective (acknowledging the challenges we encounter adjusting to life & family cycles).
Your initial appointment will provide you with the opportunity to share your issues, be curious, explore your hopes and concerns and ask questions. Together, we will discuss & develop a plan of action or therapeutic process that best fits your specific needs, wishes & goals.
Options for number and frequency of appointments are also discussed (single, weekly, biweekly, monthly appointments, short or longer-term therapy) at the initial appointment to ensure the best therapeutic fit for each individual and couple.
All appointments are on-line via zoom and last approximately 60 minutes. Shorter or longer appointments are available upon request. With Couples work, if beneficial, I may also offer individual appointments to both partners with a focus on the relationship.
The benefits of online couple counselling
A surprise discovery during the Covid pandemic has been that online counselling is as effective as face-to-face counselling when working with couples. My own experience of working with couples online and the positive feedback I have received from clients is supported by recent research. In addition to the obvious benefits for couples of accessibility and the convenience of having therapy in their own home I have learnt that there are also therapeutic advantages. These include privacy, safety and flexibility (Maier et al 2021) as well as increased articulation of personal experience which aids emotional regulation and reduced intensity where there is conflict (Burgoyne and Coen 2020). For these reasons, I have decided to focus on providing online couples appointments only.