Couples Therapy

Do You Worry About The Well-Being Of Your Relationship Or Marriage? 

Are you and your partner struggling to communicate or engage on a level that doesn’t involve criticism or arguments? Do you feel: 

• unheard, unsupported, or underappreciated? 

• alone, stuck, unfulfilled—even unloved? 

• overwhelmed by responsibilities and expectations? 

• disconnected—as if you have nothing in common? 

Perhaps you’re considering marriage counseling to head off any problems before they become a real issue. Or maybe you’re looking into therapy because you’re having trouble navigating parenting, family relationships, or the frequently toxic nature of our world as an LGBTQ couple. 

Relationships Are Filled With Challenges 

Some days, it may not seem like you’re lovers at all, but rather roommates or partners in a business relationship. You may fight or disagree often, so you either withdraw or find yourself sacrificing essential needs or parts of yourself in order to keep the peace. The resulting lack of intimacy or emotional connection probably leaves you feeling lonely and unwanted. 

You may be trying to recover from infidelity or a betrayal of some sort, but you’re having trouble trusting and believing in the possibility of reconciliation. And though you try to reignite the fire that once united you, it just seems like neither of you can ever “do anything right.”  

Our couples therapists at Integral Psychological Services understand that relationships and marriages are naturally complicated, but counseling can help. With support, guidance, and a little work on your part, it is possible to heal and enjoy a relationship in which you both feel heard, respected, and loved. 

Couples Therapy Can Teach You How To Nurture And Safeguard Your Relationship 

Most people are never taught how to self-advocate or express themselves—nor how to navigate relationships and their inherent challenges. However, couples therapy is a place where you can learn how to nurture not only your relationship, but also yourself. It offers you powerful skills for building trust, improving communication, and deepening intimacy.  

Couples therapy also gives you both a chance to heal from any emotional wounding that may influence how you interact with each other. And because talking about sensitive topics can be difficult, working with a couples/marriage counselor provides you with an impartial ally who can referee and make sure no one feels attacked and everyone feels heard. 

How Do Couples Counseling Sessions Work? 

Meeting either online or in person, we’ll start our initial couples counseling session by assessing your background and concerns for the relationship. Afterward, we’ll meet individually to get a more candid perspective on the relationship from each person. Then, in subsequent sessions, we’ll meet together to collaborate on creating solutions to challenges and strengthening your connection.   

To get to the root of the problem, we may explore aspects of your childhood years, your early attachments, and relevant relationship history. We’ll look for any emotional or relational wounding in the past that may be affecting how you connect with each other now. And we’ll identify goals you have individually and as a couple for therapy.  

What Kind Of Tools Do We Use In Couple Counseling Sessions? 

Our therapists utilize a range of strategies to create a dynamic treatment plan that can be tailored to your unique needs as a couple. Although we draw from numerous research-driven modalities, we specialize in the Gottman Method, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Attachment-Based Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for couples, or ACT.  

• The Gottman Method, often considered the golden standard in couples therapy, seeks to neutralize the four most common and problematic relationship issues for couples: contempt, criticism, defensiveness, and stonewalling. 

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for couples focuses on creating change where possible while coming to terms with and working around the unchangeable. 

• Attachment-Based Therapy identifies the link between early relationships and how those attachments inform current relationship patterns and behaviors. 

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) examines negative thoughts, feelings, and self-beliefs that may contribute to relationship stress and insecurities. 

Using these powerful approaches to counseling, we can help you protect your relationship or marriage from external and internal stressors. We want to teach you how to communicate effectively and truly listen to and understand your partner. At the same time, we want to show you how to set boundaries and maintain healthy relationship habits that include speaking so you can be heard.  

Ultimately, we’re here to help you learn how to care for and nurture your relationship while drawing upon it as a strong foundation for personal growth and healing. So whatever you are going through, couples therapy can help you heal your relationship and discover a new way of seeing yourself and your partner.    

Let Us Help You Learn How To Nurture And Repair Your Relationship 

If you are tired of fighting all the time and you just want to get back to a place where you feel like you have each other’s back, couples counseling can help. Please Contact Us, Email Us, or call (616) 600-2845 to set up your first online or in-person couples therapy session. You can also reach us at one of our locations in Grand Rapids, Comstock Park, Walker, or Rockford, Michigan.