Connection is a skill. Let’s practice!

Marriage Counseling

Rebuilding Connection, Trust, and Partnership

Even the most loving marriages can hit points where connection feels strained, communication turns reactive, or years of unresolved tension start to surface.

Sometimes it’s about a specific rupture — a betrayal, a major transition, or a loss of intimacy. Other times, it’s the slow drift that happens when life gets busy, stress piles up, and partners stop truly seeing each other.

Marriage counseling offers a structured, compassionate space to slow down, repair, and rediscover what brought you together.

Common Challenges Married Couples Face

Over time, couples often find themselves struggling with a mix of practical stress and emotional distance.

Here are some of the most common marriage challenges I help people work through:

Communication fatigue

Communication fatigue — feeling unheard, repeating the same argument, or walking on eggshells to avoid conflict.

Erosion of intimacy

Erosion of intimacy — emotional or sexual distance, loss of affection, or feeling more like roommates than partners.

Parenting strain

Parenting strain — disagreements about discipline, roles, or balancing parenthood and partnership.

Unequal labor

Unequal labor — one partner feeling like the “manager” while the other feels criticized or left out.

Stress, burnout, or mental health challenges

Stress, burnout, or mental health challenges that spill over into the marriage.

Financial tension

Financial tension — different spending styles or power dynamics around money.

Life transitions

Life transitions — career changes, relocation, infertility, or empty-nest adjustments.

Trust breaches or infidelity

Trust breaches or infidelity — emotional, physical, or digital.

Substance use and coping differences

Substance use and coping differences that create instability or disconnection.

In-law or extended-family boundaries

In-law or extended-family boundaries that strain loyalty and unity.

Religious or cultural expectations

Religious or cultural expectations that shape gender roles, emotional expression, or decision-making.

When left unspoken, these patterns can create cycles of resentment and distance — but they can also become the starting point for deeper understanding and repair.

How Marriage Counseling Works

Marriage counseling is not about deciding who’s right. It’s about helping you both see what’s really happening between you — and learning how to repair it.

My process typically unfolds in three phases:

Joint Assessment Session – I'll explore your history, current challenges, and shared goals for change.

One Individual Session with Each Partner – A chance to reflect privately on your family background, attachment patterns, and what you want from the marriage.

Ongoing Joint Sessions – Focused on communication practice, emotional safety, and rebuilding trust.

Along the way, I may integrate individual support sessions when one partner needs space for regulation or trauma processing that supports the relationship work.

My Approach

I combine Imago Relationship Therapy, the Developmental Model, and trauma-informed somatic and attachment work to help couples move from reactivity to understanding.

In our sessions, I’ll use:

Structured dialogue to transform criticism into curiosity and listening.

Somatic exploration to notice what happens in your body during conflict and repair.

Emotion-imagery techniques to access and integrate deeper emotional material.

Practical skill-building for communication, boundaries, and co-regulation.

Repair rituals that strengthen trust and intimacy after rupture.

Create personalized homework and practices so growth continues between sessions.

You’ll learn to:

Communicate needs clearly and respectfully.

Rebuild emotional and physical intimacy.

Manage stress and differences without blame.

Negotiate responsibilities and decisions as a team.

Reconnect with shared values and long-term vision.

Unique Issues in Marriage

Marriage adds layers of complexity that often require special attention in therapy. These include:

Long-term resentment from years of unspoken hurt or imbalance.

Power shifts as careers, finances, or health circumstances change.

Parenting identity vs. couple identity — finding your “us” again.

Sexual and emotional renewal after decades together or postpartum changes.

Cultural and interfaith marriages navigating blended values and traditions.

Midlife transitions and evolving desire or purpose.

Aging parents, grief, or caregiving stress affecting partnership roles.

Re-establishing trust after infidelity or betrayal.

Planning for the future — retirement, relocation, or redefining shared goals.

These moments can feel overwhelming, but they can also be deeply transformative when both partners commit to growing together.

What to Expect in Sessions

Sessions are active, structured, and emotionally grounded.

You can expect a balance of insight and skill-building, with a focus on creating new experiences of safety and connection in the room.

Each session includes:

Guided conversation and reflective listening.

Coaching on communication and regulation in real time.

Somatic check-ins to identify physical tension and emotional signals.

Reflection exercises and between-session practices to help integrate progress.

Some sessions will feel calm and clarifying; others will help you move through tension in a supported way. Over time, you’ll notice fewer escalations, faster repair, and renewed emotional partnership.

Religious Trauma & Faith Transition Support

I work with clients healing from religious trauma, high-control faith systems, purity culture, and identity-based spiritual harm. My approach is grounded, trauma-informed, and LGBTQ+ affirming. Whether you’re questioning, deconstructing, or rebuilding your connection to spirituality, you don’t have to do it alone.

My Perspective

Marriage is not a static state — it’s a living system that keeps evolving.

When couples learn to understand the deeper emotional logic behind their patterns, they move from power struggles to partnership.

Marriage counseling helps you return to the foundation of respect, empathy, and shared purpose that drew you together in the first place.

Rebuild the Connection That Brought You Together

Every relationship faces challenges — what matters is how you grow through them. Marriage counseling offers a safe space to listen, heal, and reconnect with your partner.