Couples Therapy in Seattle
Couples Therapy in Seattle: A Space for Connection, Repair, and Growth
At Orpen Therapy, I believe couples therapy isn’t just for relationships in crisis. It’s a space for reflection, repair, and reconnection—a way to deepen your relationship and feel more fully seen by one another. Whether you’re navigating long-standing disconnection, recovering from betrayal, or hoping to strengthen a strong foundation, I meet you with care, clarity, and direction.
I understand that relationships don’t need to be perfect to be meaningful. But they do need attention, curiosity, and a willingness to grow. My work invites you into a space where both partners can slow down, get honest, and rebuild connection in ways that feel lasting.
What Is Couples Therapy?
Couples therapy in Seattle offers a dedicated space to look honestly at how you and your partner interact—how you communicate, respond to one another, and show up in moments of tension or tenderness. It’s not about finding fault. It’s about understanding the emotional patterns that shape your connection, and practicing new ways of relating that feel more intentional and supportive.
Whether you’re in a long-term relationship, newly dating, preparing for commitment, or navigating an evolving dynamic, relationship counseling in Seattle helps you become more aware—and with that awareness, more empowered to shape the kind of relationship you want to live in.
This work isn’t limited to traditional structures. I welcome couples, triads, polycules, and all relationship constellations. What matters is your desire to show up with honesty, care, and a shared investment in change. In order to learn from experiences we have to choose to be learners, to seek out new information to change patterns that you wish were different. If this sounds like you then the work will always be impactful.
What to Expect
From your first session, you’ll notice that therapy with me feels active and engaged. I don’t sit back and observe. I participate with you—offering guidance, helping name what’s happening in real time, and holding space for both partners in a way that feels balanced and respectful.
I prioritize connection—not just between partners, but also between you and me as your therapist. That connection helps create the safety needed to talk about vulnerable things: intimacy, conflict, shame, fear, and unmet needs. I help you build awareness of your patterns, map out where you feel stuck, and begin to move through it—not with blame, but with clarity and compassion.
Why Now Might Be the Right Time
Many couples wonder if their relationship challenges are “serious enough” to bring into therapy. But you don’t have to wait until the pain feels unbearable. Couples counseling in Seattle can be a space for healing—but it can also be a space for prevention, curiosity, and growth.
If you’re noticing:
- Repeated arguments that feel unresolved
- Emotional distance or growing disconnection
- Discomfort around physical closeness or intimacy
- A sense that something important in the relationship needs attention
…now may be the right time to begin. The simple fact that you’re thinking about therapy is often enough of a reason to reach out. This can be your first meaningful step toward something new.
The Issues We Work With
As a couples therapist in Seattle and relationship therapist in Seattle, I support a wide range of relational experiences. Whether you’re rebuilding trust, deepening emotional or sexual intimacy, clarifying values, or exploring new ways of being together—I meet you where you are.
I work with couples navigating:
- Conflict, silence, and communication breakdowns
- Emotional or sexual frustration, fear of vulnerability
- Open relationships, polyamory, or ethical non-monogamy
- Cultural, political, or religious differences
- Commitment transitions like marriage or cohabitation
I also integrate sex therapy when helpful, creating space for conversations around desire, consent, shame, arousal, and body-based experiences. These discussions happen at your pace and are shaped around your values.
Orpen Therapy is an inclusive, affirming practice. I hold space for all people—across the spectrum of sexuality, gender, and relationship structure. Whether you’re LGBTQIA+, kinky, asexual, monogamous, non-monogamous, questioning, or unsure how to name your experience, you’re welcome here.
There are always differences between people, and that’s part of the challenge. Your similarities often bring you and your partner(s) together but how you manage your differences will determine the course of your relationship. As your therapist, I reflect the value in that diversity and help you see the value in that difference in order to be better teammates in creating change to better manage that difference in a way that feels valuable to you.
My goal is to help you live a more effective, kind, empowered, and loving life. I don’t ask you to be anything other than who you are. I meet you there—with humility, curiosity, and a deep respect for your truth.
How Couples Therapy Works
Conflict doesn’t mean something’s broken. It often means something important hasn’t yet been fully understood.
In therapy, I help you pause those fast-moving moments and get underneath the reactions. I look at how your nervous systems respond under stress, how early experiences may still shape current dynamics, and how to create a new kind of emotional safety between you.
Repair becomes possible when you slow down, listen differently, and stay present long enough to hear what matters. That’s where intimacy grows—not just physical, but emotional and psychological closeness.
I guide you through accountability, not as a form of blame, but as an act of care. It means taking ownership of your impact, offering empathy, and practicing real-time change that your partner can feel. This accountability is also tied to you connecting to your own needs, wants, values, and boundaries. When you’re focused on others it can often be hard to remember to be accountable to your own needs and voice, to allow yourself to be seen by others and to actually hear your own voice speak strongly. Accountability is about naming what is rather than what could be for yourself and others.
An Approach Tailored to You
I don’t use a one-size-fits-all model. I will meet you where you are, drawing from evidence-based approaches like emotionally focused therapy (EFT), attachment work, somatic practices, and trauma-informed care. But most importantly, your work with me is shaped by you—your life, your values, and what you’re ready to explore.
Every session is a co-creation. You and I are in this together, working toward clarity, connection, and relational change that actually sticks. I believe growth happens not just through insight, but through felt experiences that show you a new way of being.
Start Your Relationship Work
You don’t need to be in crisis to begin. You just need a willingness to look inward, and a desire to move forward with more intention.
If you’re seeking Seattle couples therapy that honors your unique relationship and values, I’m here to help. Relationship counseling is available in-person at my Seattle office or virtually for clients throughout Washington State.
If you’re ready to feel more grounded in your relationship, reach out today to schedule a consultation at Orpen Therapy. I’d be honored to support you.