In couples therapy, I see clients seeking help for:
- Improving communication skills and dialogue
- Increasing intimacy and connection
- Managing and repairing conflict
- Developing parenting skills
- Addressing financial issues
My work in couple’s therapy is guided by the work of the Gottman Institute and Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). These frameworks provide both language and techniques to help couples identify and understand their stuck places and shift from destructive patterns of interaction.
Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
EFT (Emotionally-Focused Therapy) is a powerful and effective approach to shifting negative and destructive patterns in relationships. It is based on the premise that we all need and seek emotional safety and security in our primary relationships and that it is the breakdown in the connection between partners that causes the difficulties and distress that couples experience. In EFT, partners first work together to identify and defeat the reactive and automatic patterns that have developed in the relationship. This initial phase is called De-escalation. From a place of increased sense of security and emotional safety, partners begin to develop new and effective ways of communicating and listening to each other that leads to renewed vitality, connection, and intimacy in their relationship.
I work with individuals, heterosexual and same-sex couples to restore vitality, satisfaction, emotional connection and intimacy in their lives.
For further reading about EFT, please see the article EFT – A New Approach to Couples’ Therapy.
Parenting and Transition to Parenthood
As part of my work with couples, I feel strongly about supporting new families in their transition to parenthood. This transition is one of the most challenging times in the life of a couple. Research by the Gottman Institute shows that 3 years after the birth of their first child, 67% of parents are unhappy with each other.
At the same time, these first three years is a crucial period for the development of the child. For example, this is the fastest period of brain development in the life of the human being and it is also the time when neurological pathways that will determine cognitive and emotional capacities for the rest of the child’s life are being laid down.
With that in mind, I am dedicated to help parents be the best parents that they can be during and beyond this critical period of the new family by providing counseling, psycho-education, and emotional support.