Begin Your Relationship Work with a Seattle Couples Therapist
Whether you’re navigating years of disconnection or a new rupture that’s left you reeling, couples therapy offers a space to pause, reflect, and reorient together. You don’t need to have it all figured out before starting. The work begins right where you are.
As a Seattle couples therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist, I bring depth, structure, and warmth to the process. We move at a pace that honors both partners—working to rebuild emotional safety, navigate conflict, and create new patterns of connection that feel sustainable.
Whether you're seeking relationship counseling in Seattle, exploring marriage counseling in Seattle WA, or starting fresh with premarital work, I’m here to walk with you. I also offer sex therapy and individual therapy for relational and emotional growth.
“Relationships don’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. But they do need care, intention, and repair. That’s the heart of this work.”
What Relationship Therapy Can Help With
Most couples don’t come to therapy because they “can’t communicate.” They come because what they’re trying to say gets lost in frustration, shutdown, or silence. Underneath every stuck conversation is a deeper emotional need—often unspoken, and sometimes even unconscious. My job is to help bring that to light.
When arguments loop in predictable patterns, we’ll slow the moment down and examine the story underneath. You’ll learn how to catch the cycle, understand its triggers, and build rituals of repair instead of resentment.
When emotional closeness fades or intimacy breaks down, we’ll gently explore both connection and avoidance. I often integrate sex therapy into couples work, creating a space where desire, shame, arousal, and consent can be talked about without fear or pressure.
Understanding and De-escalating Conflict
Conflict isn’t a sign of a broken relationship—it’s a signal that something important is trying to be heard. Many couples feel caught between the instinct to defend and the longing to connect. In therapy, we pause the tug-of-war long enough to listen for what’s underneath the fight: protest, fear, disconnection, or unacknowledged need.
You’ll learn how to recognize your default conflict roles (like pursuer or withdrawer), how your nervous system reacts under stress, and how to find your way back to each other after rupture. Repair becomes a practice—not a perfection.
Creating Safety for Vulnerability
Vulnerability can feel risky—especially if past experiences have taught you to armor up. Whether it’s speaking a need, owning desire, or sharing fear, therapy gives that vulnerability a safe container. We move gently, helping each partner learn when to open and how to hold what’s shared with respect.
Many clients find that as emotional safety grows, so does physical closeness. Emotional intimacy often precedes erotic connection—it’s hard to open your body when your heart doesn’t feel safe.
Practicing Accountability and Repair
Accountability isn’t about blame—it’s about integrity. It means owning the impact of your actions, even when the intention was different. It’s about listening without defense, staying present through discomfort, and showing your partner that their pain matters to you.
In session, we practice real-time accountability. It might look like acknowledging emotional absence, unmet needs, or critical patterns. And from that place of honesty, couples begin to shift—because when accountability is met with compassion, healing becomes possible.
Healing After Betrayal or Broken Trust
Betrayal doesn’t just damage trust—it scrambles your sense of reality. Whether you’re recovering from an affair, emotional secrecy, or long-term resentment, our marriage counseling in Seattle provides structure for repair. We begin by establishing safety and honest accountability. From there, we rebuild. Some couples find their relationship stronger on the other side—not because of the rupture, but because they finally got real about their needs.
We’ll pace this work intentionally. Repairing trust isn’t about quick forgiveness—it’s about cultivating a new way of being together, where emotional truth has space to breathe and be received.
Preparing for Commitment or Clarifying Next Steps
If you're considering engagement or living together, premarital counseling gives you a roadmap. We’ll talk about the big stuff—conflict styles, sexual expectations, values, finances, family background—so you're not just reacting to what unfolds, but actively shaping how you grow together.
This isn’t just about problem-solving. It’s about aligning your lives with intention and emotional fluency. Whether you're choosing each other for the first time or again after difficulty, we work toward a foundation that’s not just solid—but meaningful.
When one partner is evolving faster than the other, our Seattle couples counseling helps you both understand what’s shifting and what needs tending. Growth doesn’t have to mean separation—it can be an invitation to recalibrate together.
If you're on the edge of staying or leaving, I offer a space where both choices can be explored. We’ll hold that uncertainty together and map a process that honors each partner’s truth—without forcing a decision too soon.
As a seasoned marriage counselor in Seattle WA, I support couples at all stages—from crisis to reconnection. Whether you're looking for marital counseling in Seattle or seeking a couples therapist who understands nuance and care, I'm here to help you build the relationship you want.
“We can’t change what we don’t acknowledge. Therapy is a space to see clearly—so you can move forward with choice, not just reaction.”
What to Expect from Couples Therapy
Beginning therapy can feel vulnerable. You might be asking: Will this help? Will we just rehash the same conflict? Will my partner be open—or will I be alone in this work? Those are valid questions. Therapy doesn’t promise quick fixes, but it does offer movement—especially when both partners are willing to be honest, reflective, and engaged.
In our first few sessions of Seattle couples therapy, we’ll slow things down to better understand the emotional patterns playing out in your relationship. I’ll help you map out your stuck points—what’s not being said, how your nervous systems respond under stress, and where old protective strategies are getting in the way of connection.
If you’re wondering what to expect from marriage counseling, here’s what the process often includes:
- Exploring each partner’s emotional world—fears, longings, protective habits
- Identifying recurring relational dynamics and core emotional injuries
- Practicing vulnerability and boundary-setting in a supported space
- Learning new tools for communication, repair, and re-connection
- Integrating body awareness, sensory memory, and emotional pacing
I draw from attachment theory, trauma-informed care, and systems thinking—but I don’t just talk theory. I listen for what’s underneath the surface, follow your rhythms, and reflect patterns with care. I want each session to feel like forward movement, even when the material is hard.
You don’t have to come in with a perfect relationship—or even know exactly what you want from therapy. Just come as you are. Whether you're starting couples counseling in Seattle for the first time or returning to deepen the work, we begin with presence, care, and curiosity.
My role in relationship therapy Seattle is to offer clarity, structure, and emotional anchoring as you move toward more grounded connection. Change often begins with seeing the patterns clearly—and choosing differently, together.
“The goal isn’t to avoid conflict. It’s to feel more grounded and resourced in how you move through it—together.”
Begin Your Relationship Work with a Seattle Couples Therapist
Whether you’re navigating years of disconnection or a new rupture that’s left you reeling, couples therapy offers a space to pause, reflect, and reorient together. You don’t need to have it all figured out before starting. The work begins right where you are.
As a Seattle couples therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist, I bring depth, structure, and warmth to the process. We move at a pace that honors both partners—working to rebuild emotional safety, navigate conflict, and create new patterns of connection that feel sustainable.
Whether you're seeking relationship counseling in Seattle, exploring marriage counseling in Seattle WA, or starting fresh with premarital work, I’m here to walk with you.
“Relationships don’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. But they do need care, intention, and repair. That’s the heart of this work.”
