COUPLES & RELATIONSHIPS
It has been said that we are the knot into which relationships are tied. As well as commitment and a willingness to adapt and change throughout life, healthy relationships require skills in communication and emotional awareness. These skills are key in better understanding each other, building trust and respect and creating environments where ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish - helping you better connect with your spouse, loved ones, kids, friends, or co-workers.
Love is love. And relationships take work. Whether you are a couple or an individual, we will help guide you to explore your unique relationship patterns, increase your closeness and intimacy, deepen emotional connection, and compassionately manage conflicts through healthy, effective communication. Trained in both Gottman Method Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), it's a privilege to help facilitate change that enhances your relationship dreams and goals.
Why EFT?
EFT emphasizes an attachment view of love
We need each other. It's how we survive, how we grow, how we thrive. Connection. Intimacy. Characterized by our ability to be emotionally available and responsive to each other, EFT can help show you how to strengthen your relationship by strengthening the attachment in your relationships.
Why Gottman?
Backed By Research
Psychologists John & Julie Gottman from the University of Washington have spent their professional lives studying the make up of successful relationships. They have spent countless hours observing couples and detailing what does and does not lead to happy and successful relationships. Their work has allowed them to identify key principals needed to enhance love and happiness between couples and prevent them from crashing and burning.
Why EFT?
Learning a Better Dance
Over the course of a relationship, everyone develops unique patterns and ways of relating to each other. Like dances, there are moves and countermoves. Over time these can become fairly predictable, even rigid. Understanding and restructuring the negative aspects of these dances and creating new, healthier dances is an important way to improve your relationship.
why gottman?
Loving Couples Act in Loving Ways
There are concrete behaviors and actions we can take that work to bring us together. These include behaviors like turning toward each other, knowing and being involved in the life of your other, and regularly demonstrating your fondness, admiration, and appreciation for each other. Likewise, hours of observation in Gottman Love Labs has led to a pretty clear idea of what predicts relationship failure. Recognizing these steps and knowing how to intervene appropriately can give hope to those who are experiencing difficulty.
If you're curious to know more about attachment theory and how it relates to your relationships,
download my FREE Relationship Attachment Self-Study Journal!
If you are wondering if relationship counselling is for you, take my free quiz, and get the answers...No sign up needed!
Helpful links
I have completed the following couples-specific Training:
Feb 2014 – Gottman Level 1 – Bridging the Couples Chasm – Gottman Institute
Oct 2016 – Couple’s & Recovery – Gottman Institute
Sept 2017 - Divorce & Separation - Therapeutic Practices: Interventions for the Counselling Therapist
Jan 2018 - Infidelity in Relationships - Therapeutic Practices: Interventions for the Counselling Therapist
Aug 2018 – Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) Interventions for Couples in Crisis – Dr. Sue Johnson
Nov 2020 – Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) Core Skills – Dr. Herman Chow
Feb 2021 – Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) – Dr. Robert Allan
Mar 2022 - Imago Couples Therapy - Harville Hendrix
Jan 2023 - EFiT: Emotionally Focused individual Therapy (Level 1) - Robin Williams Blake
