Couples Counselling
50 min - $190 | 75 min - $285
When booking a consultation for couples counselling, please ensure that both partners are available to attend.
Areas of Focus
Attachment-based Couples Therapy
I believe that the ultimate goal of couples counselling is to create emotional safety, where each partner trusts that, when life gets hard, the other person will be there for them.
Most couples I work with seek couples counselling to improve their communication. Working from an attachment-based lens, I invite you to expand your definition of communication to include not only verbal discussion, but also nervous system-to-nervous system mirroring, daily rituals of touch, body language, and consistent action over time.
You and your partner have begun to recognize a pattern in your arguments and you find yourself at an impasse at the same point, again and again
You and your partner have differing conflict styles (such as needing immediate reassurance vs needing time to cool off) and find it difficult to find a compromise
Vulnerability leads to angry outbursts or defensiveness, leaving you both hurt and confused
You may benefit from couples counselling if:
Cultural Awareness
My work focuses on couples where one or both partners are Asian. Having lived experience in both cultures, I find that understanding nuances in communication, role expectations in marriage, and extended family dynamics can be helpful in partners communicating effectively with each other.
Some issues that we may address in couples counselling:
Differing love languages (acts of service vs verbal affirmation)
Differing communication styles (direct vs indirect)
Dealing effectively with extended family or in-laws
Emotionally supporting each other while living in Canada away from your social support system
In a relationship, what we ultimately want to know from our partner is, ‘Are you there for me?’
-Sue Johnson-
What a session with me is like...
We will begin with a comprehensive intake assessment, comprised of one joint session, and an individual session with each partner. I may ask you and your partner to fill out some questionnaires. In the fourth joint session, we will come together and discuss our findings and agree on a goal to work towards.
Each session will begin with a brief check-in. I will then summarize our previous work and offer suggestions on an agenda for today’s sessions. Here are some things you can expect in a session:
Exploring each partner’s experience of a recent argument
Sharing research on relationships, usually drawn from the extensive work of the Gottmans
Piecing together the progression of each argument
Practicing specific communication skills
Reflecting on what we appreciate about our partners but often forget