Couples Counseling

Intimate relationships are ideally the safe haven that soothes and supports us, challenges us and encourages us to grow. For many of us though, the behavior patterns we developed to keep ourselves feeling emotionally safe when we were young get in our way when we form adult relationships.  

Despite our deepest wishes and best efforts, we can find ourselves stuck in repeating cycles of conflict with a partner, feeling like we’re on an intolerable roller coaster of intense highs and lows, or frozen in a slow moving cascade of distance and isolation, alone when we want to be close.  

These patterns can feel impossible to shift and often lead us to points of crisis that feel insurmountable, but with willingness and motivation and some basic tools, couples can unwind these cycles, learn new steps to take together, and get to the closeness and connection they are seeking.

Background & Resources We May Discuss:

Attachment theory

https://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~rcfraley/attachment.htm

Communications/Humanistic Family Therapy Approach

https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/35409_Chapter4.pdf

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples

http://www.iceeft.com/index.php/about-us/what-is-eft

Discernment Counseling - for couples considering ending their relationship

http://moderncommitment.com/on-the-brink/

https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/article/13/reflections-on-the-divorce-revolution

The Gottman Method for couples

https://www.gottman.com/about/the-gottman-method/

Interpersonal Neurobiology

https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/interpersonal-neurobiology

http://www.drdansiegel.com/about/interpersonal_neurobiology/

Mindfulness & Buddhist Psychology

https://www.spiritrock.org/intro-to-insight-2016

https://jackkornfield.com/meditations/

Positive Psychology

https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/

https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/learn-more/frequently-asked-questions