Couples Therapy

Maintaining a positive relationship takes work.

Time doesn’t stand still – things change, and so do relationships. Life gets more complicated, especially when you add children, bills, maintaining a household, trying to get ahead at work, and other issues.

Some couples need maintenance to address issues that arise before they become problematic.

Other couples face problems that threaten to tear the relationship apart. Infidelity, sexual challenges, the inability to have a civil conversation, and differences in how to raise children are some of the issues that present real problems for a healthy and loving relationship.

Life transitions, such as illness, aging, and job loss, also impact relationships. Learning to navigate such issues is difficult, especially if partners are not on the same page.

Couples therapy can help keep your relationship on track as you navigate the many challenges.

What can you expect when you come in for couples therapy?

As your couples therapist, I hope you will look forward to our sessions together. You might ask, “Why?” Because I intend that there will be times of great encouragement, problem-solving, teaching, surprising insights, laughter, and even joy!

You can expect me to treat the two of you evenly and fairly. Such treatment is the case even if I had worked with you previously individually. In that situation, I will inform you that you will not be “my favorite.” Being fair and evenhanded is always the goal.

To begin with, you will complete paperwork about yourself individually before the first session. This information is part of your intake form. What I’m trying to get across is that I want to know about you as a person outside of your relationship.

Secondly, I will ask you both to complete a Couples Therapy form. This form will help you describe how you individually see the relationship. When I receive these forms, I will review them carefully as they will help me gain insights into you individually and as a couple. We will check these in the session after that.

Then, we get down to basics.

In the first session, or perhaps even within the second session, I will ask each of you three questions. First, what are the problems that bring you in today? Second, what attempts have you made in terms of fixing these problems? Third, what outcome or goal do you want to achieve in therapy?

As you answer these questions, you will be guaranteed no interruptions by your mate. On the other hand, I will ask follow-up questions as it is my job to thoroughly understand the dynamics of your life individually and as a couple, with you being the judge, whether I have understood sufficiently to move on.

Finally, you will receive homework individually or as a couple so that you can make progress in between sessions. I do not want you to be dependent upon me!

The Bible helps guide our work together.

We will look for truth throughout our work, with the Bible being the only source. Our work will include reflection on the Scriptures in sessions and between sessions. I will explain clearly how these Scriptures apply to your lives.

After every session, we will take home the notes compiled, the Scriptures, and any homework so you can review what we discussed.

Furthermore, these notes will form the beginning of follow-up sessions so that we will always have continuity from one session to another.

Finally, we will be working on skills when we work together. When I mention skills in thinking differently, I am talking about measuring your thinking, solving problems, and using other tools that will be valuable for working through situations beyond therapy.

Let’s do the work and keep you on track!

Meet the challenges in your relationship before the damage becomes too great.

Couples therapy provides a way to address issues objectively with a guide dedicated to objectivity and the truth.

Let’s talk about how we can work to rejuvenate your relationship.