Couples Counseling
Serving couples with psychotherapy
treatment in DC and Maryland
Factors of everyday life can put an abundant strain on a relationship. Relationship stressors may include resentment, infidelity, intimacy issues, lack of trust, and miscommunication. When problems go unresolved, one can feel helpless or have feelings of guilt, shame, resentment, and contempt. Couples often seek counseling when the relationship is at a standstill, or if they are unsure whether or not the relationship is worth salvaging.
“My approach offers interventions and ideas for you to develop in-session and at home. If you are seeking more than a “venting session,” you have come to the right place! I offer an environment where you can feel safe, secure, with appropriate boundaries, and guidance. I offer the opportunity for both sides to feel heard, understood, and listened to. Centering around honesty, emotional healing, mutual respect, personal accountability, and ownership of individual differences through teamwork.”
Many couples have found my expertise helpful in the areas described below.
Infidelity & Cheating
Whether it was an emotional affair, a physical affair, or somewhere in between working through such issues can be challenging and emotional, healing can be achieved and trust restored.
Intimacy & Romance
Feeling of sexual boredom or unhappiness, lacking communication and disconnect, or disappointment in the relationship and feelings of dissatisfaction can lead to romantic walls and decreased intimacy. The intimate “spark,” takes work from both sides, addressing individual needs and desires.
Past & Future Resentments
Issues with past infidelities, broken promises, forced obligations, financial mistrust, co-parenting issues, emotional-physical abuse, emotional neglect. Are a few common issues that may fuel resentment and relationship unhappiness.
Pre-Marital Counseling
This is something to consider as part of the plan to build the strong marriage and life together. Individual changes and life circumstances can be place stress on a relationship. Pre-marital counseling can add support that you and your partner have a strong, healthy relationship giving you a better chance for a stable and satisfying marriage.
Growing Apart & Individual Differences
Love is active and not a state of being. As people age and grow together they can find themselves growing apart from their partner. Individual differences can take a toll on the relationship without compromise and sacrifice.
Separation & Reunification
One reason or another couples find themselves separated and are willing to “try again,” to rekindle the relationship. Many issues leading to separation are still unresolved and required attention.
General Communication
Without this skill a person is handicapped in an intimate relationship. Without being able to express themselves and listen to another, partners cannot achieve intimacy. By developing your communication skills, you and your partner will be able to establish and preserve a loving, respectful relationship between two people who love each other.
What to Expect:
I begin by scheduling a session with you and your partner to further understand the relationship, provide you with expert knowledge, and understanding of the process of couple counseling. I will want to spend time understanding each of your concerns in a respectful, safe, and nurturing environment.
I provide evidence-based practices to support you and your partner in need. The theories and modalities I provide include:
Emotion-Focused Therapy:
Is attachment-based and identifies the negative, rigid interaction patterns that amplify distress in couple relationships. It aims to identify emotional disconnection in insecurities. The essence of this therapy is built on the expression of new emotional experiences that transforms the nature of the interactions between the couple, specific to needs and emotions.
Schema Therapy for Couples:
Is an evidence-based therapy that addresses how early maladaptive schemas (problematic life patterns) and modes (behavior that emerges when schemas are triggered) lead to conflict in marital relationships. By addressing “mode clashes” and underlying unmet core needs that contribute to schemas and modes, the couple can reduce conflict and improve the quality of their relationship.
Click here if you are ready to restore your relationship and begin the path to healing, encouragement and hope.
Intensive marriage and couple counseling.
As an experienced marriage and couple therapist, I offer intensive couple therapy at my office in Bel Air, Maryland, and Washington, DC, or virtual through Telehealth sessions. Intensive counseling sessions are concentrated and are designed to jump-start the counseling process to develop immediate progress. This type of approach utilizes several days and hours each week to dedicate to the couple. The structure of each therapy day may vary according to the issues and needs of the relationship. This type of counseling approach is ideal for any marriage or couple who wants to jump-start progress and work through issues in which immediate assistance is wanted. Intensive couple counseling is ideal for couples who are busy with careers, and family obligations that desire uninterrupted quality time to address their relationship concerns.
Benefits of Intensive Couple Counseling
This specific approach has demonstrated to have benefits such as decreased feelings of distress, resolution of problems, optimal healing, and a stronger more connected relationship. In several instances has moved conversations from ending a relationship to recommitted in new valuable ways. Factors to consider intensive counseling include chronic fighting, infidelity, intimacy concerns, family conflict, and relationship dissatisfaction.
What is Included In Intensive Marriage and Couple Counseling
Prior to your intensive marriage and couple counseling, you and your partner will have an extensive assessment to obtain information about each of you and develop a treatment plan. The treatment plan acts as a road map towards your relationship success.
What is Included in intensive marriage and couples counseling
- Both conjoint and individual sessions
- 3-12 hours a week of therapy (time and day and weeks vary)
- Assessment with you and your partner. This includes the Adult Attachment Inventory.
- Other inventories may include the Young Schema Questionnaire and Schema Mode Inventory and Schema Parent Inventory.
- Concrete skills, strategies and techniques
- Outside of session coordination and support as needed.
As Your Therapist
I specialize in marriage and couple counseling and have an extensive track record of training and expertise in the area. I am trained in the areas of Schema Therapy for Couples and Emotion Focused Therapy; which are evidenced-based practices in the treatment of marriage and couple therapy. My therapeutic approach informed by Attachment Theory and Interpersonal Psychology. My purpose is to help you develop a greater awareness of the underlying roots of your conflicts and disconnection. My process will allow you to discover new pathways of understanding each other, communicating more effectively, identifying needs, and restoration of emotional and physical intimacy.