What is Couples Therapy?

 

Couples therapy is a space to strengthen connection by learning to communicate beyond daily frustrations, and instead listen to and understand the deeper emotions driving disconnection.

 

Couples can seek therapy for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

• Proactively strengthening your relationship

• Understanding how past traumas / experiences are influencing your current relationship

• Recurring patterns of conflict/miscommunication

• Emotional distance or patterns of withdrawal

• Intimacy struggles

• Parenting differences

• Navigating relational stuck-points, ie having another child

• Navigating major life transitions or losses

• Infidelity

• Feelings of resentment and disconnection

 

​Therapy involves learning to spot unhelpful patterns of interacting and communicating, taking ownership of one's own part, and practicing new ways of relating that prioritises the health of "us."

 

Therapists guide couples to identify and express emotions and needs (often unseen beneath day-to-day frustrations and logistical busyness) to each other in healthy ways. They also help couples to respond to each other with greater understanding, which can rebuild trust and create stronger emotional bonds.

 

An impartial therapist is a fundamental part of couples therapy. Both partners should expect to feel equally supported, in order to foster a safe and collaborative space for meaningful change.