Do You Feel Disconnected In Your Marriage Or Relationship?
Are you and your partner fighting too much?
Is there a lack of trust between you, but you don’t know where things went wrong?
Do you feel alone in your relationship, like there’s an invisible barrier that keeps you from being heard and understood?
Maybe every conversation with your significant other turns into a shouting match.
Or perhaps the issue is more subtle—you tolerate each other, but feel disconnected and unsupported.
Somewhere along the way the relationship changed, but you don’t know why. You simply don’t have fun together anymore.
Family Conflicts And Busy Schedules Can Impact Your Relationship
There may be outside factors impinging on your love life. Maybe you’re having problems with your in-laws and it’s caused friction in your marriage. Or perhaps both of you are so busy with work and other demands that you don’t have much time for each other. If you have children, you may find that new conflicts have arisen because you disagree on parenting styles.
Regardless of where your relationship issues stem from, I am confident that I can help you and your loved one work through your differences. Marriage and couples counseling is a chance to solve communication issues, reduce conflict, and fall back in love.
Many Couples Struggle To Compromise On What’s Important For Their Relationship
All couples have the daunting task of integrating their two worlds. Each party brings a different system of values and expectations to a relationship, and if they aren’t willing to compromise, the two systems won’t be able to integrate as a whole. This is why humility is so important—both people must put aside some of their own interests and admit that their perspective is not the only one.
In today’s world, couples have to reckon with an endless number of distractions. The ease of connecting with others on social media has created more opportunities for infidelity and emotional affairs—people can reconnect with old lovers and acquaintances at the drop of a hat. And because of how busy and work-obsessed our society is, many couples simply don’t have enough quality time to spend together. Other commitments constantly get in the way.
Why Couples Struggle To Find Support
A lot of couples don’t know where to turn for help. Afraid of how others will perceive them, they may keep their relationship problems behind closed doors. And if they do seek support, they usually turn to family members and friends for wisdom and insight—which only complicates matters.
After all, a couple’s loved ones often have a personal stake in their relationship and are too emotionally involved to keep their biases from clouding their advice. Friends and family often end up “choosing sides” or trying to push the relationship in certain directions (e.g., telling them to stay together or break up).
For these reasons, it’s vital to seek professional help. As an experienced couples counselor, I am committed to helping you strengthen your relationship. My goal is to help you and your significant other build a bridge between your two worlds so that they can come together as one.
Marriage Counseling Is A Chance To Thoroughly Assess Your Relationship’s Strengths And Weaknesses
It’s normal to seek couples counseling because you want your partner to change. But in order to truly heal the underlying wounds in your relationship, both of you have to be willing to change. Therapy is a chance to figure how. It is a complete and thorough assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in your relationship based on years of research about what works and what doesn’t.
In the first session, I will meet with you and your partner together to go over your history, background, and current relationship problems. The second and third sessions will be held with each of you individually so that I can get a better understanding of where you’re coming from. Afterwards, we will resume our collaborative sessions to help you explore your relationship more in-depth and shore up its weak spots.
What To Expect In Sessions
As we work together, I will help you and your spouse explore why you fight the way you do and why you may have trouble compromising with each other. Oftentimes, this means looking at unconscious expectations that you may have set for yourself in the past. For instance, if one of you grew up in a low-income household, you may have told yourself that you would never be poor as an adult. As a result, maybe you refuse to spend money on things that your partner wants, causing friction between you. Counseling can help you take a closer look at these rigid expectations and find ways to amend them for the sake of the relationship.
Moreover, I want to teach you how to navigate conflict peacefully and effectively. The goal is not for you to avoid tension, but to learn how to fight fair. This means learning to communicate your feelings on a deeper level so that you can resist name-calling, yelling, and other unproductive ways of arguing.
Tailoring Your Marriage Therapy Treatment Plan
There are several assessments I conduct with couples to help them overcome their relationship problems. I will use the Gottman assessment to help you disarm harmful communication and pinpoint the areas of your relationship that keep you feeling stuck. Next, I will use the Prepare & Enrich assessment to help both of you understand how to integrate your personalities more effectively. The final assessment is designed to map out your fighting cycles so that you can detect patterns in your conflicts. Altogether, these assessments will help you gain a deeper understanding of the pitfalls in your relationship and come up with solutions for breaking out of them.
Right now, you may feel like you and your partner will never get back the magic you had at the beginning of your relationship. But rather than return to how things were, my goal is to help you reimagine your relationship in ways you never dreamed. As long as you’re both committed to working together, you can reignite the spark at the heart of your marriage and deepen your love for each other.
Marriage Intensives Are A Great Opportunity For Couples Looking For Faster Relief
In addition to standard marriage counseling, I offer intensives for couples who want faster relief than weeks of therapy can provide. The intensive is a customized, in-person weekend devoted to your specific issues and goals. You and your partner will walk away with a personalized binder that you can reference for the rest of your lives. Other couples have described it as “invaluable” and say it’s like “having a therapist in your pocket.” You’re essentially getting ten months of therapy in a single weekend, since you’re learning things in an accelerated format.
You May Have Some Concerns About Marriage Counseling…
I’m worried that marriage counseling will cost too much.
Most couples that I see complete the therapy process in just 10-12 sessions. What’s more, marriage counseling is far less expensive than divorce or separation. It’s a temporary investment in your relationship that has potentially lifelong benefits.
What if my partner is hesitant to try therapy?
If your significant other isn’t sure about therapy, I would be more than happy to talk to them about how it can improve their relationship. That said, their decision is their decision—I’m not here to argue with them. My ultimate desire is for you and your partner to get your needs met in whatever way works best for you. Besides, my approach to therapy is client-centered and catered to you and your loved one’s goals, not mine.
How often and where will we meet?
Generally speaking, we will start by meeting once a week, then move to bi-weekly sessions, and gradually switch to meeting monthly. And at the moment, all of my sessions are held via telehealth, as telehealth allows couples to avoid traffic, stay safe from COVID-19, and engage in therapy from different locations.
Let Me Help You Build A Bridge Between The Worlds Of You And Your Partner
If you and your partner wish you had someone to talk to who could help you work through your differences, I would be honored to be that person. To see if we’re a good fit, you can reach out via my contact page, or call me at 404-267-9173 for a free, 10-to-15-minute phone consultation.
