To clarify, I am talking about intimate relationships, not with family, as I am not a family therapist. I don’t use the term ‘couples counselling’ or ‘marriage counselling’ because some long term partners choose not to get married or civilly partnered (or maybe just can’t), and I don’t want to exclude those that are in consensually non-monogamous relationships.
I am able to help you with absolutely any aspect of your relationship, not just issues surrounding sex.
If you are experiencing any of below in your relationship, and would like to process it, get in touch:
- Fertility/Infertility
- Affairs
- Communication issues
- Relationship breakdown
- Intimate partner violence
- Desire Discrepancy
When I work with a people in a relationship, I work with the relationship as well as the individuals. If, for instance, I have a couple in the room, it is like I have 3 participants in the room – person 1, person 2 and the relationship as a whole. I offer individuals in the relationship separate sessions if they want, especially at the beginning of the journey. Part of my job as a relationship therapist is to not choose sides and stay neutral, giving all people in the relationship equal time to talk and process. Offering 1:1 sessions at the beginning can sometimes help an individual figure out a few things before attending as a couple. In order to stay neutral, though, I need to see all members of the relationship for a 1:1 session.
I do not hold secrets in these 1:1 sessions. The confidentiality is with the relationship, not each individual, so issues that are brought up in 1:1 sessions might need to be brought up in the relationship sessions. I am unable to keep secrets between myself and individuals in the relationship.
An important part of my practice is that it is rare that there is someone to ‘blame’. This isn’t a place to shame or blame a person – misunderstandings between a couple, for instance, are a lot more complex than it just being someone’s ‘fault’.