Marriage Therapy + Couples Counseling

Relationships are tough—learn how to make them easier and more rewarding.

"The work we do with Barbara makes us better people. She helps us achieve a stronger connection through healthier communication. No matter how difficult our session is, we always manage to leave with smiles on our faces. Barbara, you are a wonderful therapist and an impressive individual. Thank you for everything!”—Alex

Relationships are hard, as any news site will eagerly tell you. Stories of celebrity affairs, break-ups and other scandals are so common that there doesn’t seem to be much hope for the rest of us.

I’m here to tell you that there is hope, even after years of tension, conflict, or emotional distance for any couple—straight, gay, dating, married, post-divorce—from any racial, ethnic, or spiritual background.

Conflict happens in all relationships. But it isn’t inevitable, even after years of bad feeling. I help couples step outside of their pain and frustration to see each of their roles in these conflicts. From there, couple can begin to communicate and finally have
conversations that have productive outcomes leading to greater intimacy.

How I can help

Infidelity, especially in a long marriage for example, can be devastating—to both partners.

With one couple I worked with, the anger and mistrust of the cheated spouse was overwhelming. She couldn’t trust her husband.

When I met the couple, she was increasingly spying on him, reading his emails and texts, and listening to his voice messages looking for clues for his next infidelity. She was so angry that she began stalking the other woman in the affair, threatening physical violence.

For her husband, ridden with shame and guilt, there seemed to be no end to the cycle of punishment from his wife and so he closed himself off.

For many couples, this emotional pain is too much. It is easier to walk away. And yet, in this case both partners were committed to saving their marriage and I was able to help them move forward.

I helped the husband work through his guilt and shame, so that he was able to hear how much his wife was hurting. Rather than needing to defend his actions, he was able to offer his wife a connection with an open heart so healing could begin.

I helped the wife step fully into her grief—over the affair and all the grief in her life that was attached to it—and then process the events in their relationship which ultimately led to the husband’s affair.

Through therapeutic techniques, I created the necessary spaces for heartfelt dialogue so the healing process could begin.

With the right help, even seemingly insurmountable differences can be resolved.

Take the next step

What’s next? Set up a free phone consultation to learn more about how I can help you create deeper, fulfilling personal relationships.