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What is couples counseling like with you?
I provide a lot of education up front to make sure you have foundational skills for a successful relationships: how to listen and make your partner feel heard, how to express what you really mean, how to manage conflict and recover from when it goes south, and how to create a supportive partnership by investing meaningfully and frequently in the relationship. I draw heavily from Dr. John and Julie Gottman’s (check them out!) impressive empirical research and tailor the information they learned to your relationship. I reflect on patterns I see in your communication that are hard to spot when you’re the one involved, I help you deepen your understanding of yourself and one another in real-time, and I help you consider what this relationship means to you.
Do I have to be in individual counseling too?
I do not require this of my couple’s. Some people really benefit from individual counseling before or in addition to doing couples counseling, but some people don’t need it, or it’s less of a priority depending on your circumstances. My metaphor when you’re really struggling is this: It’s incredibly difficult to learn how to swim when you’re drowning. It’s even harder to learn how to synchronized swim. If you’re not sure, that’s okay. I can help you figure that out when we meet.
I will only be your couple’s therapist OR your individual therapist, not both. This protects you from feeling suspicious or ganged up on, and it helps me remain as objective as possible. I will meet with all parties individually once when we first meet or in very rare exceptions.
How long are people in couple’s counseling?
Research indicates couples attend therapy on average of 10-24 sessions. This is a huge range and doesn’t really tell us a lot about what to expect! Similar to individual counseling, it depends on what’s going on. I always encourage my clients to consider their goals and if we are making progress toward them in therapy. If not, we take another approach or I refer you out to someone who may be a better fit. If we have met your original goals, we either update them or you graduate! Couples counseling is not intended to be forever.
Payment
I provide 55 minute sessions for $150 and 90 minute sessions for $225.
I accept cash, check Visa, Discover, MasterCard, and American Express. I also accept FSA and HSA cards.
I do not accept insurance