Do I need Couples Therapy?
Couples Therapy may help you if your relationship isn't as positive as it used to be. You may be having difficulty expressing your needs and wants to your partner, or finding that you end up arguing more frequently than you used to.
The connection we have with our significant other changes over time. Sometimes not for the better. When we feel like our relationship needs more, Couples Therapy may help.
Couples Therapy and Relationship Counselling may be right for you and your partner if you want to:
Couples are often uncertain about what to expect from the Couples Therapy process. It's about focussing on you and what you want to change in your relationship. For couples, my role as a therapist is to provide compassion and support for both partners.
Most couples approach therapy with the notion that each person will describe their distress and somehow the therapist will assist them to create a happier, more functional, relationship. They expect to learn some new or better skills. However, most people hope their partner will do most of the learning in problem areas. I believe my primary role is to help you improve your responses to each other without violating your core values or deeply held principles.
My Approach
After many years of clinical experience working with many couples, I believe I have arrived at an approach that can make our work more effective. This gives us the greatest chance for success in strengthening and rebuilding your relationship. The Gottman Method and Emotion Focused Therapy are complementary therapies. Both are internationally recognized best practice evidence-based approaches to Couples Therapy and relationship counselling. In combination, these therapies are highly effective.
The Gottman Method
The Gottman Method comes out of the New York based, Gottman Institute. It is internationally recognized as being one of the most successful and effective evidence-based approaches to Couples Therapy. It used 45+ years of research and thousands of couples to discover what makes good relationships. The research outcomes are used as a basis for the therapy and inform you and your partner how you can allow your relationship to grow and become richer and deeper over the years. You can also discover what couple behaviours result in high levels of conflict and can be predicted to end in divorce.
Drs John and Julie Gottman developed a great model to reduce conflict, increase connection and improve how you understand your relationship from a holistic perspective.
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotion-focused therapy is also an internationally recognized, scientific evidence-based approach designed to help couples strengthen their emotional connection. You learn how to process Intense emotional responses while also learning how to access the more vulnerable deeper emotions under the surface. This helps you to recognise you and your partner's emotional responses towards each other. This leads to a better understanding of each other, improved bonding, and better emotional attachment.
How It Works
Joint Sessions
Initially, we seek to find out what’s happening in your relationship so we can target treatment and better understand what you’re looking to achieve. The Gottman method emphasizes the need for an accurate and comprehensive assessment process. Firstly, an initial oral assessment is held with you and your partner. Secondly, you have an invitation to complete a comprehensive electric online assessment. Thirdly, individual sessions are used so that personal issues or concerns can be discussed. Your individual views on what you would both like to gain from couple’s therapy are important.
Ongoing joint sessions
We arrange on-going joint sessions to help you and your partner to learn and practice new skills. An interactive experiential method session is used to help you learn how to communicate effectively.
Results
You achieve results through learning and practicing the necessary skills in a supported environment and with a structured, proven approach. This provides the foundation for communicating to deal with the complex relational issues that are part of all relationships.
Websites/References
To learn more about what builds a great relationship, you might like to:
