Couple Counseling
How can couple counseling help me?
Feeling emotionally disconnected?
Research has shown that the stress of feeling alone and emotionally deprived in intimate relationships can be traumatizing to a person physically and psychologically. But with counseling it IS possible to reshape and repair relationships and even create new, healthier, and more secure bonds.
Do you struggle with recurring unresolved conflict?
Anger, aggression, withdrawing, numbing, or staying busy can hide the pain driving your conflict. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), can identify where misunderstandings are happening and bring to the surface relational fears and longings that fuel your escalating or even stonewalling reactivity to each other. As a systems-trained therapist, I will not take sides, but will protect your sessions by focusing on the internal and relational processes that get triggered between you.
Contemplating divorce or separation?
Before making a significant life-impacting decision, take some time to understand and consider your options. If partners have mixed agendas about whether to end their relationship or try to save it, Discernment Counseling provides an intentional “pause” (1-5 sessions) to clarify how you both arrived at your current state and determine with clarity whether to 1) maintain the status quo, 2) proceed with separation or divorce, or 3) engage in intentional therapeutic work and re-examine in 6 months.
Working through an affair?
When the discovery of an affair brings a couple to counseling, initial sessions may focus on damage control and stabilization. Therapy can then provide the structure and safe space needed to find the meaning in what happened and move you toward making sound decisions about your future.
Or maybe you are going through another difficult circumstance of life?
The following contexts often surround relationship distress. With assessment and appropriate intervention, therapy can help bring about a healthy outcome.
• Blending stepfamilies
• Parenting challenges
• Living with an addicted partner
• Living with mental illness/chronic illness
• Life transitions, stage of life issues, grief and loss
What if my partner doesn’t want to come to therapy?
In many circumstances, only one partner desires therapy. That is ok! Don’t underestimate the power you have to change your relationship(s) for the better. Like any “dance,” if you get healthier and begin to change your “footwork,” others around you may likely change theirs as well.
Need Premarital Counseling?
Contemplating the next step in your relationship? Not sure if you’re ready for marriage? As a certified Prepare/Enrich facilitator, I can offer a powerful, affordable, and research-based assessment to give you a realistic “snapshot” of your relationship. We will identify current strengths and growth areas toward intentional and structured conversations. Learn skills for healthy communication and conflict resolution. Learn WHO you’re really partnering with and how family-of-origin programming is impacting your relationship.
I Am Here to Help
Hello, my name is Laura. I am a marriage and family therapist with experience in helping individuals and couples walk through challenging stages of life. As a wife of 23+ years and mother of four children, I understand the ups and downs of relationships; as a therapist I can help support you through whatever struggle you may be facing. You do not have to do this alone.
To get started, it is best to call me at 972-346-5139, or fill out the contact page below and I will respond within 24 business hours. After an initial free phone consultation, you and I can decide how to move forward and hopefully schedule your first session.