Couples therapist using the most-effective approach to helping couples recover from distress and rekindle joy
Effective Marriage Counseling in Arizona
Hope begins here
My Approach to Couples Counseling
When your relationship has evolved to emotional pain, distance, endless arguing and even infidelity, you may have intense feelings of hopelessness and fear that your connection cannot be restored.
My approach to marriage counseling uses the acclaimed Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, the most-successful and science-based model that provides us with a proven roadmap to healing.
Here, you’ll find:
A gentle, yet powerful experience of learning to recover your closeness and connection in a non-judging atmosphere of acceptance
Balance – You’ll both be fully heard and without bias toward either of you
A focus not just on your problems but also on your unique bond as a couple
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I invite you to explore how marriage counseling with this proven and brief process can help you reconnect and recapture the love and tenderness you once cherished.
Your Struggles
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Repeated, unresolved arguments
Distrust, hurt and pain after infidelity
Distance and disconnection
Your Possibilities
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Calm discussions that move toward solutions
Renewed closeness, revitalized joy and intimacy
Affair recovery and renewed trust
Marriage Counseling Misunderstood:
Why This Model is Different and Most Effective
It’s not unusual for me to hear about previous marriage counseling my new couples may have experienced. I understand your hesitation to try again – or for the first time if you’ve heard stories of others’ failure.
In Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (which we call EFT) you’ll experience:
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A new understanding of the “whys” of your intense emotions when you argue or are upset with each other
You’ll discover that the “cycle” of arguing and becoming distant is the true enemy tearing you apart
We will work together to recover from the pain and hurt of infidelity
We won’t just focus on the most recent argument. We have a proven path to help you move from distress to reconnection
My Singular Focus is on Relationships
As an Arizona couples therapist, my practice focuses solely on couples and relationship issues, which enables me to concentrate and work most effectively on the wide array of challenges facing couples.
Let’s face it: Relationships can be the hardest thing we do. It’s not unusual for me to hear that my clients easily handle the ups and downs of their careers and interpersonal work challenges. Yet, at home, with the person who matters most, they feel overwhelmed when problems arise.
The reasons, while complex, all center on the strong emotional bond couples form when they meet and fall in love. So, when things aren’t going well, emotions are heightened, frustration comes more quickly and misunderstandings can abound.
It’s this complexity that attracts me to couples work. I love helping couples untangle their distress, revitalize their connection and become each other’s safe haven once again.
Importantly, I’m using the world’s most successful approach to helping couples heal, renew and reclaim their passion. This proven path is my source of wisdom and knowing I’m doing my best to help you in this most-important life journey.
Getting Quickly to the Heart of Your Distress
One of the strengths of Emotionally Focused Couple therapy is helping couples who are struggling to quickly grasp the dynamics of their distressing interactions. They learn to identify a “negative cycle” in which they have become stuck. That cycle can be never-ending arguments or distancing and avoidance. Or, a combination.
Couples are often relieved to learn that the cycle is their enemy – not each other! As tensions lessen, each partner gains deeper insight into their own and their partner’s unmet needs.
This gentle exploration yields significant Aha! moments as couples realize they can learn to exit those cycles and have important (and calm) conversations to address issues new and old.
The Biggest Fear About Marriage Counseling
No form of counseling or therapy can ever offer 100% results. People, after all, are incredibly complex. And, each couple’s situation is unique.
However, statistics for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy show:
This is a “brief” therapy process, with an average of 8 to 20 sessions
However, 70 to 75% of couples move from distress to recovery in 10 to 12 sessions.
90% of couples experience significant improvement.
Research also has shown that couples can continue to improve after therapy has been completed.
One of the biggest fears couples express is whether they can recover from the pain, endless arguing, silence and distancing that now rules their marriage or relationship.
Relationships are our greatest emotional investment – we literally are most vulnerable with the one we love. We put our soul and heart on the line.
So, when our marriage or relationship deteriorates, the disappointment and pain can impact all facets of our lives. Our work and career may suffer. Most concerning, is the impact on children.
The Hallmarks of Emotionally Focused Therapy
You’ll be relieved to learn:
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EFT is considered a short-term therapy model. Longer sessions of 75 minutes enable us to make progress faster.
I help you through the process with reading and homework exercises that are easy, quick and very insightful.
We go far beyond talking about the “argument of the week.” We follow a proven road map to help you not only reconnect now but also have what you need to continue to thrive as a couple into the future.
Science Matters!
EFT is based on years of research studies that are woven into this marriage counseling model in ways that are approachable and clear.
You’ll learn how “attachment” has contributed to your distress in your relationship and how to unravel how your past influences your present. Couples learn to deeply understand their own beliefs and behaviors in their relationship and how to adapt more effective ways of being lovingly together.
You’ll learn how your brain reacts to tension in your relationship – and, of course, how to slow down those reactions.
Former models of marriage counseling focused on teaching couples how to talk to each other. We do that, too – however, by gaining a deeper knowledge of yourselves, you’ll bring to those conversations a new insight into how to achieve lasting change. The difference is change that lasts, not a temporary fix.
How to Get Started
I invite you to explore these pages. As you read, you may recognize how your relationship or marriage has gotten stuck, has deteriorated and has become distant and painful. You’ll also learn about the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy approach and the elements that contribute to this most-successful model.
You’ll learn about me, as well. My style, my commitment to helping you and the balance of this process that ensures you both are equally heard and understood.
I offer a 20-minute phone or video chat to answer your questions and help us determine whether we’re a fit. You can call or email me to schedule.