A Heart Centered Approach to Couples Therapy
A crisis in one’s primary relationship can feel like an identity crisis, opening up the question of the distinction between self and other on the most intimate level.
Effective couples therapy can help you find home in one another’s hearts and safety in togetherness.
The moment when the construct of an intimate partnership, the emotional home you built together, threatens to fall away can be devastating. It is also a unique opportunity to rebuild both your relationship with yourself and one another. Relationship crisis is one of only a handful of catalysts that has the power to motivate lasting change.
A licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am here to help you move through chaotic times and find stability in the midst of crisis.
That said, some of the most effective treatments for couples happen long before problems arise, so if you are seeking relationship counseling as a couple in anticipation of a life transition or just to know one another better, you will be gifting yourselves the opportunity to create an even more stable foundation—shoring up the coastline for life’s eventual storm.
I use a heart-centered approach to help couples open to vulnerability and engage from a place of radical honesty in order to repair trust and rekindle intimacy.
We start by practicing simple and effective communication skills that foster:
My approach is gender inclusive, expansive and sex positive. I welcome you and your partner wherever you are on the spectrum of gender identity, expression and sexual orientation.
I am here to encourage and support the best in both of you as individuals and as a couple, whether your goal is to stay together or amicably separate.
My goal is to help you feel safe enough to be vulnerable and share the things you have been too afraid to say out of fear that you will no longer be loved.
As a couples therapist, I do my best to act as an objective moderator and am honored to be a non-partial witness to this very intimate process.
Does Couples Counseling Really Work?
If you are wondering if you need couples counseling, the thought of allowing a stranger into the intimate chambers of your closest relationship is probably accompanied by a particular mix of curiosity, hope and dread.
You love each other but you both feel misunderstood. Every time you try to communicate you manage to trigger your partner’s deepest sensitivities.
Is there someone who can help you:
Perhaps you have been together for a long time but the emotional distance is making you wonder if you are really happy or just getting by. Maybe it’s been years since you shared physical intimacy. Can couples therapy bring you close enough to reignite the passion you once shared?
Whether you are experiencing explosive arguments or a tense stillness, if you are considering couples counseling, you haven’t given up yet.
Yes, couples therapy works. It works most effectively for people who are open to:
What if My Partner Won’t Go to Couples Counseling
Finding a safe space in which you can allow yourself to be vulnerable with your partner about the truth of your needs and desires is critical to opening the door to mutual understanding, intimacy and connection.
Finding ways to hold one another’s pain with compassion and speak to one another from a place of curiosity goes a long way towards healing.
Couples therapy (and relationship counseling in general) is not effective unless all parties are equally willing, motivated and invested in the process.
If your partner is resistant to therapy but you feel you would benefit from a non-partial witness to reflect your experience and help you sort through your feelings about the relationship, I can help you come to clarity about your path forward in individual psychotherapy.
Couples therapy can be disruptive in so far as it tends to bring to the surface sensitive issues that need expression in order to be resolved. If there is any physical violence in your relationship, please seek individual treatment instead.
Inclusive Couples Therapy for LGBTQ+ Queer & CIS Relationships in the San Francisco Bay Area
The relationship dynamics involved in intimate partnerships are not exclusive to any one combination of gender identity or sexual expression.
Heterosexual or queer, you can feel safe with me to speak openly about:
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Marin County located within easy proximity to Mill Valley, Sausalito and San Francisco. Visit me for:
Begin your journey with intention.
Join me to explore how couples therapy can support your relationship — whether you’re working to reconnect or part ways with care.
