Couples coming to therapy are often trapped in mutually destructive cycles of blame and defense. Reciprocal negativity and hostile escalations are typically the norm replacing love, affection, and compassion. Using old survival strategies in their current relationships, they begin to create an unsafe environment where distrust and betrayal reign. Adding to that is the cultural fantasy that their marriage was going to be happily-ever-after...and so they face hopelessness, disappointment, and despair.

The good news for couples is the abundance of up-to-date research and practical tools that can help them learn how to restore trust, connection, and romance in their relationships. Trained in PACT (Psychobiological Attachment Couples Therapy) and certified in Imago Relationship Therapy, I use both techniques to help couples identify why things go wrong, how to change their old patterns and create the intimate loving relationship they want. With this process, couples transform conflicts into opportunities for healing and growth, connecting more deeply with each other. Couples move from blame and shame to understanding and empathy.

In a safe and structured environment, clients will learn to:

• foster a secure and safe attachment
• identify their repetitive, negative patterns
• understand the source of reactive responses that drive these patterns
• expand and re-organize key emotional responses in the relationship
• facilitate a shift in day to day interaction
• create or re-create acts of loving kindness in the relationship