Relationships can be one of the greatest sources of connection and meaning in our lives, and also one of the places we can feel the most hurt, lonely, or stuck. Couples often come to therapy when they find themselves having the same painful conversations again and again, feeling disconnected, struggling to rebuild trust, or wondering how to find their way back to one another.
I provide online couples counseling for throughout Oregon. Couples therapy is the primary focus of my practice, and I have specialized in working with relationships for many years. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in couples and relationship therapy, with extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), the Gottman Method, mindfulness-based approaches, and other evidence-based relationship therapies.
Rather than simply teaching communication skills, I help couples understand the deeper patterns underneath their conflicts. Together, we explore what happens between you when disconnection occurs, the emotions and attachment needs that may be difficult to express, and the protective responses each partner has developed over time.
The goal isn't to eliminate conflict. It's to help you create a relationship in which difficult moments can be navigated with greater understanding, emotional safety, honesty, and connection.
Reasons Couples Come to Therapy
Couples seek counseling for many different reasons, including:
- Feeling emotionally disconnected or more like roommates than partners
- Recurring arguments that never seem to get resolved
- Difficulty communicating or feeling understood
- Betrayal, infidelity, or rebuilding trust
- Sexual intimacy or desire differences
- Jealousy and insecurity
- Parenting and family stress
- Major life transitions
- Differences around money, work, values, or priorities
- Exploring or navigating consensual non-monogamy or polyamory
- Questions about commitment or the future of the relationship
- Wanting a good relationship to become deeper and more connected
Potential Benefits of Couples Counseling
Couples therapy can help partners develop:
- Greater emotional and physical connection
- A deeper understanding of one another
- More effective and compassionate communication
- Greater honesty, trust, and emotional safety
- Increased awareness of recurring relationship patterns
- New ways of navigating conflict and solving problems together
- Greater emotional attunement and responsiveness
- Increased responsibility for each partner’s role in the relationship
- Support in healing from betrayal, infidelity, or past hurts
- Greater resilience for navigating future challenges together
How I Approach Couples Therapy
I primarily work from an Emotionally Focused Therapy perspective. EFT helps couples recognize the negative interaction cycles that can take over a relationship and understand the more vulnerable emotions and attachment needs underneath them.
I also integrate Internal Family Systems, mindfulness, nervous-system awareness, Gottman Method interventions, and other approaches depending on the needs of each couple. Therapy is collaborative and tailored to your relationship rather than based on a one-size-fits-all formula.
I work with couples across a wide range of relationship structures and identities, including LGBTQ+ couples and couples practicing or exploring consensual non-monogamy. My aim is to create a space where both partners can feel understood while we look together at the patterns that have developed between you, rather than locating the problem in one person.
Online Couples Therapy Throughout Oregon
I provide online couples counseling through Empowering Love to clients throughout Oregon, including Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Salem, Eugene, Bend, and other Oregon communities.
If you're feeling stuck in painful patterns, recovering from a rupture, or simply wanting a deeper and more connected relationship, couples therapy can offer a place to slow things down and begin understanding what is happening between you.
Schedule a free consultation to see whether working together feels like a good fit.