07585 234057
I am a qualified couples therapist and have been working with couples since 2010. I am experienced in working with all types of relationships, including same sex, heterosexual, polyamorous, and pansexual.
Couples therapy can be helpful in many different situations:
- After infidelity
- Questioning the relationship
- Lack of trust
- Feeling taken for granted
- Sexual problems
- Help negotiating a separation
- Family conflicts
- Transitions
Couples work is normally shorter than psychotherapy, maybe just several weeks or months. Sessions are 50 minutes long. There is often homework, and so the process requires commitment from both partners. At the very least, couples therapy offers a safe place for couples to talk without it developing into an argument. Often couples need to learn some basic relationship skills as well, such as communication, negotiation or contracting. Although it requires effort, couples therapy can also be joyful, moving and celebratory. There are sometimes even laughs along the way.
There are a few principles which underpin my work:
- I will not take sides, and I will give each person equal time
- I see issues in relationship as being co-created, even when it looks like one person is the ‘guilty party’
- We can often gain insight into a current relational dynamic by exploring the past
- Relationships need nourishment in order to grow
- Relationships develop and change over time.
One hour a week of couples therapy will not transform your relationship, you will need to dedicate time and energy into the process to see results.
