Relationships matter, and when they are under strain the impact can be significant. Many couples come to therapy feeling stuck. Conversations have become difficult or charged. Distance may have crept in, emotionally or physically. Something painful may have happened that hasn’t been resolved. Shared goals may have shifted. Trust may have been fractured. Some couples are trying to repair and reconnect and others are unsure whether staying together is possible.
How I Work
My approach is warm, tender, and direct. Couples work requires me to be more active and directive than in one-to-one therapy. This isn’t about control or taking sides, it’s about keeping the work productive, focused, and contained, rather than allowing sessions to slip into the same patterns that happen at home.
I use PAIRS – Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills, an evidence-based approach that focuses on building practical relational skills.
In sessions, I help couples:
- Identify unhelpful patterns
- Stay with one issue at a time
- Interrupt negative communication before it escalates
- Slow things down – bringing the system from 5th gear to 1st
- Speak from an “I” position, rather than blame
- At times, I’ll pause you mid-exchange and say, “Let’s stop here.” That pause is intentional. It helps us understand what’s happening between you and creates space for something different to emerge.
Individuals . Couples . Clinicians 