Couples Therapy at Arts in Counseling
Relationships can be among our greatest sources of joy, meaning, support, and belonging. They can also become places where we feel lonely, misunderstood, resentful, disconnected, or stuck in painful patterns we can't seem to change.
At Arts in Counseling, we help couples slow down, understand the patterns shaping their relationship, and build new ways of relating to one another. We work with dating, engaged, married, cohabitating, LGBTQIA+, consensually non-monogamous, and other relationship structures.
Whether you are hoping to repair, reconnect, strengthen your relationship, or determine what comes next, therapy can provide a space to understand yourselves and one another more fully.
Common Reasons Couples Seek Therapy
Couples often contact us because they are experiencing:
Repeated arguments that never seem to get resolved
Communication breakdowns
Emotional distance or disconnection
Parenting disagreements
Division of household labor conflicts
Resentment and scorekeeping
Betrayal, secrecy, or infidelity
Life transitions and stress
Mismatched needs for intimacy or closeness
ADHD impacting the relationship
Differences in family, culture, religion, or values
Anxiety, depression, trauma, or grief affecting the partnership
Questions about whether to stay together
Sometimes couples come in crisis. Other times they come because they recognize that small frustrations have quietly grown into larger patterns over time.
Our Approach
Many relationship problems are not simply about the topic being discussed.
The dishes, the parenting disagreement, the forgotten errand, the lack of intimacy, or the recurring argument are often expressions of deeper experiences: longing, fear, disappointment, overwhelm, loneliness, or unmet needs.
Our clinicians help couples understand both the content of their conflicts and the patterns that keep those conflicts alive.
We draw from evidence-based approaches including attachment-focused, emotionally focused, relational, systems, psychodynamic, and experiential therapies. We also recognize that insight alone is not always enough for change.
At times, conversation is exactly what is needed. At other times, carefully chosen creative, reflective, somatic, or experiential approaches can help partners access perspectives and possibilities that words alone may not reach.
You do not need to be artistic, creative, or interested in movement to benefit from couples therapy at Arts in Counseling.
What Couples Often Hope to Gain
Couples frequently seek therapy to:
Communicate more effectively
Reduce defensiveness and reactivity
Better understand one another's experiences
Repair trust
Navigate difficult conversations
Rebuild intimacy and connection
Create more equitable partnerships
Strengthen co-parenting relationships
Develop healthier conflict patterns
Make thoughtful decisions about the future of the relationship
Couples We Serve
We work with couples experiencing a wide range of concerns, including:
Relationship distress
Parenting stress
Perinatal and postpartum transitions
ADHD in relationships
Anxiety and depression
Trauma and attachment wounds
Infertility and reproductive challenges
Pregnancy loss, termination and TFMR
Life transitions
Caregiving stress
LGBTQIA+ relationships
Consensual non-monogamy and polyamorous relationships
Getting Started
Beginning couples therapy can feel vulnerable. Many couples worry that therapy will become a debate about who is right, who is wrong, or whose fault things are.
Our goal is not to choose sides.
Our goal is to help partners better understand themselves, understand one another, and create opportunities for meaningful change.
If you're wondering whether couples therapy may be helpful, we invite you to schedule a brief consultation to discuss your needs and determine whether Arts in Counseling is a good fit for your relationship.