COUPLES COUNSELING

Common Reasons for Couples Counseling

• Criticism, Contempt, Stonewalling, or Defensiveness

• Difficulty communicating, including feeling misunderstood, having difficulty explaining your position, or not understanding your partner’s position

• Feeling that disagreements are never truly resolved

• Disagreement on major relationship issues including parenting or finances

• Differences in opinions and/or backgrounds

• Change in the sexual relationship, communication, affection, etc.

• Feeling like one or both of you don’t fight fair and need help with conflict resolution

• Contemplating or participating in an emotional or sexual extra-marital affair

• Sexual problems, including disagreement on frequency or technique or lack of sex for several weeks or months

• Grief, trauma, or major life stressors like job change, move, change in family dynamics, etc.

• Conflict with in-laws and/or extended family members

• Work/life balance concerns, including managing household and parenting tasks

• Feeling more like roommates than romantic partners

• Considering separation and/or divorce

• Deciding whether marriage is right for your relationship or not

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Which Couples Counseling Approach is Right for Your Relationship?

Imago Relationship Therapy

Developed by: Dr. Harville Hendrix & Dr. Helen Kelly Le Hunt in 1980

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The goal of Imago Relationship Therapy is to transform conflict into opportunities for connection and growth. 

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Imago uses the Couples Dialogue to restructure communication into an effective tool that increases understanding and connection. Couples are encouraged to a Relationship Vision Statement to stay focused as they learn new skills and explore their relationship and themselves as individuals, including the real reasons we choose our partners.

EFT for Couples (EFCT)

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Formulated by Dr. Sue Johnson and Dr. Les Greenberg in the 1980s based on attachment science

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The goals of EFCT are to re-organize emotional responses, change relationship patterns, and encourage a secure bond between partners. 

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EFT for Couples is a structured 8-20 session approach to restructuring interactions by interrupting negative communication to become aware of secondary emotions. 

Gottman Method Couples Therapy

Developed by: Drs John and Julie Gottman

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The Gottman Method of Couples Therapy is a structured approach to couples counseling, starting with an assessment and integrating research based interventions. Gottman Method starts with teaching new skills before increasing intimacy and developing a shared meaning.

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The goals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy include disarming verbal conflict, increase intimacy and respect, and increase empathy and understanding. 

Discernment Relationship Counseling

Developed by Dr. Bill Dohtery

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Discernment Counseling is a process for clarifying if a couple wants to end their relationship or commit to work through their relationship concerns together.

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The goal of Discernment Counseling is to understand how the relationship got to this point what what each partner needs to be motivated to continue in the relationship or to be confident in the decision to end the relationship. 

Erin Myers

Erin Myers is a Marriage and Family Therapist, who has experience with EFT and is trained in Gottman 1 and 2. Erin loves working with intercultural couples as someone who is in an interracial marriage herself.