Help for Your Most Important Relationship
I’m glad you’ve arrived at this page on our website. The fact that you are here is a sure sign that you’re ready to move past your current relationship struggles. You’re tired of experiencing angry conflicts, feelings of betrayal, or a growing sense of isolation.
Whatever the issue, you’re ready for some competent, caring support to help you both get through this tough time, and rekindle joy, romance, and delight.
You’ve come to the right place.
Our counselors and therapists have the skill and ability to help you both experience the fullness and love that is absolutely still possible.
We know seeking out a couples therapist can be frightening, and we want you to feel comfortable right from the start. To help you understand the process we go through at LifeStance Health, I want to tell you about Pat and Christy, one of my couples, and how the process worked for them….
How Couples Counseling Helped Pat and Christy
This is a real-life story of one couple that completed marriage counseling at LifeStance Health. We’ve changed the names and a few of the details to ensure their privacy, but their story –and their healing –is 100% real…
When Christy and Pat first became a couple, everyone thought they were perfect for each other.
“We were crazy in love,” Christy said. “We didn’t know anything back then. But we had each other. We thought that would be enough.”
Eight years after their wedding, Pat and Christy’s relationship was on the brink.
They came to LifeStance Health as a last-ditch resort. If couples counseling didn’t work, they would file for divorce.
Their first counseling session quickly brought both of their emotions to the surface. Both were carrying years of pain, bitterness, anger, and fear.
“I got married so I wouldn’t have to be alone! I’m alone now more than I ever was when I was single!” Christy said with great resentment. “And no one has to work THAT much. You’re just hiding behind your work because you’d rather be at the office than be at home with me.”
“I have to work all the time to support the two of us,” Pat countered,“ If you’re lonely, just go get a job like the rest of us. That way, I wouldn’t have to work so hard.”
Does Your Relationship Sound Anything Like Pat and Christy?
We’ve gotten to know hundreds of Pats and Christys in the couples counseling program. Always, the relationship started with promise, hope, and romance.
But things changed somehow. Where once there was joy and excitement, now there is pain, anxiety, stress, and fear.
It may not seem possible to you right now, but there is a tremendous amount of hope for even the most troubled relationships.
Including yours.
We’ve seen amazing turnarounds happen right before our eyes. Couples who came to us unable to say three words to each other have learned to communicate their feelings, wants, and needs in helpful, constructive ways.
Much like Pat and Christy did…
How Healing Begins
After learning their backstories, our therapist began to see how Pat and Christy’s marriage got in trouble.
As Pat became more and more disillusioned with the relationship, he had immersed himself deeper and deeper into his career, falling back on the same workaholic strategy he learned as a boy.
Christy withdrew into herself, also falling back on the same coping techniques she learned growing up. She internalized her pain and loneliness, until it began to cause stress-related health problems.
Christy was feeling the old ache of loneliness and wanted Pat to take the time to listen to her concerns. Pat was feeling a tremendous need to work to relieve his stress by providing for his family.
We worked with Pat and Christy, both individually and together, to teach them how to begin speaking their feelings to each other.
At first it was difficult. There was a lot to talk about.
But after learning a few surprisingly effective, easy-to-use techniques, they were able to begin communicating with each other in a way that made them both feel loved and secure:
Pat was moved by Christy’s pain and loneliness; Christy was moved by her understanding of Pat’s stress and anxiety. They now understood each other—and each other’s hurts. They were motivated to take action to care for one another again.
Neither had felt that way for many, many years.
Where Pat and Christy Are At Now…
Even today, years after their therapy, both Pat and Christy still use the communication techniques they learned in couples counseling.
For Pat and Christy, coming to couples counseling saved their marriage.
…And Where You Deserve to Be
Not everyone will have an experience exactly like Pat and Christy, and while we can’t guarantee that every relationship will be saved, we can say that there is tremendous hope for the vast majority of couples.
We also accept every insurance we can and work hard to ensure cost will not prevent you from receiving the help you and your partner deserve and need.
Could you be the next success story? We believe you can, and that’s why we look forward to seeing you here at Heart-Centered Counseling.
p.s. We act quickly—in firm but kind ways—to ensure there’s no abusive behavior (including abusive language) in any of our therapy sessions. And our therapists also don’t “take sides.”
Instead, we maintain a 100% open, constructive, non-judgmental environment in all of our sessions.
If you are worried about coming to counseling because you don’t want a fight to break out, rest assured that we know how to handle—and interrupt—such things in our office in a thoughtful and respectful manner. We’ll teach you to work through conflict constructively instead of resorting to fighting, yelling, and abusive language. At the very least, you both deserve that.