Online Relationship and Marriage Counseling therapists in California

I love working with couples! I am extensively trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and blend in body awareness, mindfulness, and psychoeducation around emotional regulation. My couples learn how to get underneath their own reactive /protective behaviors in order to better understand and communicate their needs in a way their partner can hear and more effectively respond to. This builds trust, safety, and authenticity in the relationship.  

For 40 years I have helped couples navigate the waters of their relationships. We learn to create relationships from the examples we see growing up. Nobody teaches us how to create loving, intimate relationships that last.  

I am a relationship therapist. I help couples in relationship distress. Many of the couples I work with come to therapy feeling lost in conflict cycles which they don't understand and desperately want to change. I understand how much courage it takes to reach out for help and to let another person get inside your relationship, especially when you are feeling hurt, discouraged, angry, or humiliated. If you are searching for a safe place to explore what's not working in your relationship, and support in creating solutions, please contact me. I realized early in my clinical practice that I wanted to focus on couples therapy. In addition to many hundreds of hours working with couples in distress, I have pursued training specific to couples therapy, including advanced training in both Emotion Focused Therapy and the Gottman approach. I am truly passionate about helping couples heal and flourish. Please know that no matter what you bring to couple therapy, I will meet you with compassion. I will help you explore what isn’t working in your relationships and why. We work together to understand what you want and need and to identify the changes you want to make. Together, we create solutions that work for you.  

Have you ever desired to get close to someone but couldn’t? Have you given your all to someone only to be hurt and disappointed in return? Do you question every move you make while you date? You’re not alone. As individuals, we intrinsically seek connection. Whether it be family, friends, dating, or partners - sometimes we all need a little help with boundaries, communication, intimacy, anxiety, codependency, and attachment issues, just to name a few. I join with clients to help build self-awareness, communication, and connection to create secure and trusting relationships.  

Relationships are not easy and there is no standard written formula to follow for a successful marriage. I help couples in finding their fortes to build a long lasting friendship then relationships.  

Hello! When working with couples, adult family relationships, and friendships, I take an attachment approach. I want to get to know the stories of past and present relationships, relational patterns, stresses, dreams, and victories that are currently impacting your felt-sense of being known, safely, and fully in your relationship(s). I infuse the decades of research and communication templates of Gottman Method Couples Counseling with the tailored insight of Attachment Core Pattern Therapy. Together we'll discover what part of the relational conflict is really about the issue you're discussing, really about the person you're in conflict with, the deeper roots of pain that are being triggered, and how the relationship you're in can be a part of your healing the rooted relational injury.  

Honoring the individual is the greatest asset to strengthening the relationship.  

Relationships are hard -- and mostly because we are not taught basic foundations for how to be in conflict. I help couples get clear on how they might be contributing to the unhealthy conflict which takes out the blame and creates more opportunity for sustained and healthy change -- to get you and your partner into a space of consistent safety. We learn *how* to fight.  

I have experience providing marriage therapy and utilize Gottman method and skills.  

I help partners improve communication, resolving conflicts, rebuilding trust, and enhancing emotional intimacy. I specialize in addressing issues such as infidelity, frequent arguments, and emotional disconnect. By employing evidence-based therapeutic approaches, I help couples develop healthier relationship patterns, strengthen their bond, and achieve greater satisfaction and harmony in their partnership.  

Using adult attachment and emotions as guides, let's explore conflicts, patterns, and dynamics in your relationship.  

Create a healthy fulfilling relationship that meets both of your needs. Resolve conflict and use techniques that promote connection.  

Would you like to work on your partnership that will further enrich your partnership? Do you want to understand your partner better and thus become a little happier? Are you single? Do you want to prepare for a partnership, maybe you also want to understand why it didn't work out with the last partnership, or or or ... As a Life Coach I have been married for a relatively long time and that 3 times! So I know that marriage is not always easy, that it is a task, but how fulfilling it can be and how rewarding partnership can be if we don't give up but work on the relationship. "Man is a mine rich in precious stones of inestimable value" Let us try to apply this reference from Bahá'u'lláh to our partner and ourselves. The coaching topics could be: - Marriage as a life task - From being in love to being in love - Understanding my partner better - to be afraid. Fear or anxiety? Of what? - Desires confuse me - What can I do myself? - Family of origin, childhood and sibling constellation, is that important? - How can I work on my independence? - How can I develop my own strengths and abilities? - Cooperation, with whom? - Partner search, how do I do that? - Encouragement / discouragement - Which diverse signals do I send out? - How is my communication? How should it be? - Do I know my partner? - About sexuality - Being able to forgive is worth its weight in gold - What is a marriage vision? - What is my vision and attitude? - Living conditions and crisis conditions - Where do we go from here? - Why or what am I on this planet fore?  

We offer research-based, integrative therapy for individuals with relationship issues and couples seeking to improve their relationships. We provide pre-marriage and marriage counseling. And also work with couples who have chosen to end a long-term relationship and wish for a conscious, amicable separation.  

What does couples counseling look like? Each session is completely confidential. As we work together, you will learn how to communicate better, identify disruptive patterns, and work as a team. In our first meeting we’ll discuss your hopes, wishes and goals. My job is to build safety, make sure you are heard, and start to develop a view of what is going on under the covers. Often, deep emotions and longings drive our behaviors. That last fight may not be about his family or what you said. It may be about whether you feel you are still loved, that you matter to your partner, that you are cherished. These roots go deep. The approach I use, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), has over 30 years of research showing it works. 75% of couples who complete the sessions say their issues were resolved. Of these, over 90% say things are still as good, or better, two years later. EFT is powerful.  

teach clients useful skills and techniques to foster healthy relationships with their friends, family members, partners or colleagues.  

I believe that at times it is difficult for us to see things clearly. My goal is to help you re-adjust your way of looking at yourself and your world, and to help you realize what is possible. I believe that the most important aspect of therapy is the relationship that develops between you and me.  

Your relationship doesn't need to be on the verge of collapse to benefit from some extra help & attention. Every single relationship--no matter how "healthy" it seems--comes with its challenges, and many of us aren't taught how to navigate them.  

I have over a decade of expertise in conceptualizing and treating struggling interpersonal and intimate relationships. Through a honed lens of social constructionism, I focus on understanding and meeting the unique needs, meanings, and values of each relationship. Every relationship is unlike any other. This stance promotes authentic curiosity and explores how we make meaning together. Meaning and action are closely interwoven in our relationships, and each member of the relational context influences the culture and landscape of the interpersonal experiences within. In therapy, we collaborate in creating a new way of relating that allows the rediscovery of empathy for each other in these contexts, and resolves troubling patterns of communication and differences in expectations that negatively impact understanding, connection, and value... I believe relationships and context matter. Research shows that relationship distress causes problems in mental health, work, children, and even your own physical health. Yet, healthy relationships protect you from stress and help you thrive. I believe in using relationship therapy that works. I practice evidence-based therapy, which means I use therapeutic practices that have been studied and supported by empirical research studies. I work with clients to improve their interpersonal functioning both within relational contexts (i.e., couples, families), as well as with individuals who would like to focus on their past, present, and future interpersonal interactions. Clients explore the relational impacts of experiences such as rejection sensitivity, feelings of codependency, attachment concerns, life transitions, divorce, trust, shame, self-esteem, assertiveness, and the impact of dating in the digital-age (i.e., feeling ignored, insecure, ghosting, text communications). Unfortunately, most people don't have access to effective help for their relationships nor have they been taught what healthy relationships and communication look like. Because of this, I also prioritize increasing access to couple therapy by offering telehealth, evening and weekend scheduling, and lower-cost options that are tailored to Client needs and resources. I strive to understand your goals, help you communicate and form these goals explicitly, and reach them effectively. I have worked with couples, families, parents, Veterans, adolescents, and individuals on strengthening their relationships and interpersonal skills. I have expertise in working with LGBTQIA+ relationships, sex therapy, and increasing physical and emotional intimacy between partners who seek nonjudgmental therapeutic space and openness to non-traditional relationships (i.e., polyamory, open relationships, play partners, swingers, friends with benefits (FWBs), BDSM etc.). I work with couples/relationships and individuals addressing pornography consumption, kink, and all manner of consensual play. (See additional relational competencies in the ‘diversity’ sections and relationship based ‘services.’) I often employ a mixture of Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy and Emotion Focused Couples Therapy when working with intimate partners. I have an extensive background in Family Systems modalities as well, including Gottman Method, Structural Family Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Family Systems, and others. There are several forms of relational therapy you can engage in: Couple Therapy and Therapy with Romantic Partners Family Therapy Therapy for Friends or Coworkers Relationship Therapy for Individuals (just you!) Relationship Education Relationship Coaching (for just you or you and your partner(s)) Premarital Coaching  

I work with couples and individuals on relationship issues. As humans we are wired for connection so relationships are at the core of our sense of self and well being. In my practice we can explore who you are as a child, parent, friend, or partner and gain insight into these important relationships.