Relationships are one of the most profound—and at times, most challenging—parts of human life. Whether you're navigating recurring conflict, disconnection, trust repair, or a desire to deepen your partnership, couples therapy offers a space to slow down, understand each other more fully, and build something more intentional together.

I work with couples using two evidence-based, relationally focused approaches: Relational Life Therapy (RLT) and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Together, these frameworks offer both the insight to understand what's happening beneath the surface and the practical tools to change it.

Relational Life Therapy (RLT)

Developed by family therapist Terry Real, Relational Life Therapy is a direct, skills-based approach to couples work that takes aim at the patterns most likely to destroy intimacy: contempt, withdrawal, grandiosity, and the kind of losing strategies we learn in our families of origin and carry—often unconsciously—into our adult relationships.

RLT is grounded in the understanding that most of us were not taught how to be in relationship. We were shaped by families, culture, and early experiences that modeled disconnection, emotional avoidance, or unhealthy power dynamics. Those patterns don't disappear when we fall in love—they show up at the dinner table, in the bedroom, and in every conflict that seems to be "about" something small but never really is.

What makes RLT distinctive is its willingness to be honest. It is not a neutral, reflective-listening-only model. As an RLT therapist, I will name what I see, challenge the behaviors that are harming your relationship, and actively coach you toward something better. The goal is full relational recovery—not just less fighting, but genuine closeness, mutual respect, and the ability to repair when things go wrong.

RLT is especially helpful for couples dealing with:

• Chronic conflict or communication breakdown

• One or both partners feeling unseen, dismissed, or criticized

• Patterns that keep repeating despite good intentions

• Recovery from betrayal or breach of trust

• Disconnection rooted in childhood trauma or family-of-origin dynamics

I am a Level 1 Certified Relational Life Therapist, trained directly in Terry Real's methodology.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

EFT, developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, is one of the most extensively researched approaches to couples therapy available. It is rooted in attachment theory—the understanding that our need for secure emotional connection is not a weakness, but a fundamental human drive.

EFT helps couples identify the negative interaction cycles that create distance and distress, understand the underlying attachment fears and needs that fuel those cycles, and build new patterns of emotional responsiveness and trust. When both partners begin to feel safer with each other, conflict softens, communication opens up, and the relationship itself becomes a source of support rather than stress.

How I Work With Couples

I draw on both RLT and EFT depending on what a couple needs. Some partners benefit most from the direct skills-coaching and honest confrontation that RLT offers. Others need the slower, more vulnerable work of EFT to access what's really happening emotionally. Often, both are useful at different points in treatment.

My approach is warm but direct. I believe couples deserve a therapist who will be honest with them—not to take sides, but to help both partners see clearly and do the work required to change.