Couples counselling gives both partners a structured and confidential space to talk openly about their relationship with the support of a therapist. It provides an opportunity to step outside familiar arguments and look more carefully at what happens between you - what triggers conflict, how each of you responds and why the same difficulties may keep returning.

My role is to help you identify these patterns, communicate difficult feelings more clearly and better understand each other’s experiences. I will support both of you to take part in the conversation, while keeping the relationship itself at the centre of our work.

Couples counselling is not about deciding who is right, assigning blame or persuading you to stay together. It can help you repair your relationship and reconnect, but it can also support you in considering separation or navigating it with greater care. The aim is to help you reach a clearer and more informed understanding of what you both want.

My approach is integrative and relational, informed by Emotionally Focused Therapy and ideas developed by the Gottman Institute. This means paying close attention both to how you communicate and to the emotions, needs and vulnerabilities beneath your reactions.

Couples can become caught in recurring patterns in which each partner’s response unintentionally triggers the other. One partner may pursue a conversation while the other withdraws, for example, leaving both feeling increasingly unheard or rejected. Rather than blaming either person, we work together to understand the pattern and the part each of you plays within it.

I may also introduce practical ways of communicating, managing conflict and repairing the relationship after disagreements. The aim is not to eliminate every difference, but to help you express yourselves more clearly, respond to one another with greater understanding and build a relationship that feels more secure and connected.

I do not impose a predetermined outcome or take sides. I support both partners while keeping the wellbeing of the relationship at the centre of our work.

Couples come to therapy at many different stages of a relationship. Some seek support during a crisis, while others have gradually become less connected or want to address difficulties before they become more deeply established.

You might be experiencing recurring arguments, communication problems, emotional distance, resentment, intimacy or sexual difficulties. Couples counselling can also provide support following infidelity or another breach of trust, or when you are struggling to agree about commitment, parenting, finances, family relationships or the future.

Relationships can also come under pressure during periods of change. Parenthood, bereavement, illness, menopause, retirement, relocation and changes in work can all affect how partners relate to one another.

You may want to repair your relationship and feel close again, or you may be uncertain about whether to remain together. Couples counselling does not require you to have already decided what should happen. It offers a space to understand what has brought you to this point and consider your future with greater honesty, care and clarity.