11650 Lantern Rd Suite 232, Fishers, IN 46038
600 E Carmel Dr Suite 263, Carmel, IN 46032
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Couples Therapy
Do You Just Want to Feel Like You and Your Partner Are on the Same Team?
Are you and your partner struggling to connect? Have differing priorities caused you to drift apart or heightened your level of conflict? Are you wondering how to reawaken a meaningful and fun connection? Has your relationship hit a breaking point?
While you may have heard that relationships ebb and flow over time, perhaps yours is experiencing more ebb than flow lately. If your hectic lifestyles limit the amount of time you have for meaningful connection, you might be feeling disengaged from each other or even like roommates.
Your communication could be filled with misunderstanding, defensiveness, and criticism, resulting in frequent arguments that repeatedly cover the same ground or avoiding tougher topics altogether. Either way, you’re not on the same page and probably spend less time enjoying each other’s company than you used to.
Your Sex Life May Be Negatively Impacted by the Conflict in Your Relationship.
Perhaps your lack of a sex life, mismatched sexual desires, or less-than-satisfying sex has become a taboo subject you’re too embarrassed to talk about. Or maybe your intimate relationship has been impacted by infidelity, whether with a sexual or emotional affair or another form of betrayal that has broken down trust. Challenges with sexual intimacy could cause you or your partner to feel undesirable or unwanted by the other, pushing you even further apart.
If things aren’t right in your relationship, you might feel exhausted and preoccupied, worrying about what the future holds for your relationship.
If only you could get back to feeling understood, accepted, desired, and unconditionally loved by your partner, you would feel more secure.
The good news is couples therapy offers you dedicated time to work on your relationship. Working with a marriage or couples therapist can help you restore your emotional and physical connection so that you are energized and nourished by the relationship and enjoy spending time together again.
Almost 70% of all conflict between romantic partners will never be resolved...so finding a way to manage conflict that fosters and deepens connection is key to making relationships work well.
The trials and tribulations we may experience throughout our lives—such as balancing work and family, raising children, transitioning into the empty nest phase, or caretaking older parents—will continuously put our relationship to the test. For example, research conducted by The Gottman Institute found that almost two-thirds of couples report a decline in relationship satisfaction up to three years after having a baby.** That’s why receiving the proper support during these difficult chapters is so important.
Long-Term Relationships Are Constantly Put to the Test.
All couples experience disconnection and conflict at times, even the healthiest of relationships. According to Dr. John Gottman's research, 69% of problems in a relationship are unsolvable.* This finding suggests that “solving” conflict is not the panacea most of us believe it is—rather, learning how to manage conflict more constructively is how we deepen connection.
The cultural myths surrounding relationships can be misleading. There is always more nuance and complexity - as well as filters and deleted scenes - than what any movie or influencer reveals.
The lack of authenticity portrayed in movies and media can fool even the best-intentioned couples into buying into the myths about what a real relationship looks like, both in and out of the bedroom. Unfortunately, many of us have allowed these unrealistic fantasies to inform our expectations of romantic relationships.
While we all bring "relationship baggage" into our romantic partnerships, we may not know how to carefully unpack it without support. Although we know what needs to change, we don't know how to get there. Fortunately, couples counseling can provide the roadmap you need to find your way back to each other.
Couples therapy can help you deepen your emotional and sexual connection. It can help create intentionality around becoming better acquainted with your own and your partner's thoughts and feelings, dreams and desires, values and goals.
The busyness of life can leave little space for you to enjoy quality time connecting and, instead, cause distance and distress. But you don’t have to reach a breaking point in the relationship to consider couples counseling. Acknowledging you could benefit from receiving support is not a sign of failure but rather a way to cement your relationship through improved understanding, compassion, and commitment.
Couples therapy can help you recognize why it’s been challenging to shift from a relationship dynamic that isn’t working into a new cadence that supports growth and connection. We also provide a comfortable and encouraging space for couples to safely talk through sexual concerns, learn about different models of sexual desire, and practice strategies between counseling sessions that help reduce anxiety around emotional vulnerability, physical affection, and sexual intimacy.
What to Expect in Sessions
After initially meeting jointly, we will meet with each of you individually for one or two sessions to thoroughly ascertain your issues and perspectives. Once we reconvene, we will collaboratively establish a treatment plan and identify your mutual goals.
Depending on your needs, we may work on:
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Actively healing relationship wounds through productive communication
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Learning how to navigate conflict without escalation or shut-down
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Understanding how each of you expresses and receives love
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Learning how to regulate emotion in the moment and share thoughts and feelings productively
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Clearing out barriers to emotional connection and physical intimacy including addressing any discomfort you may have talking about sex
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Learning each other’s sexual roadmaps
The Modalities We Use in Couples Therapy
Each of our therapists is trained in a variety of evidence-based modalities tailored for couples, including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and the Gottman Method. Both of these methods have been extensively researched in the context of couples dynamics. In particular, results of a meta-analysis indicated couples who participated in EFT experienced significant improvement and remarkable recovery rates from marriage distress. ****
EFT helps couples process their emotional experience of the relationship as well as restructure their relationship patterns in order to develop and strengthen the bond between partners. With a better understanding of each other's core needs, you can engender a deeper connection.
Gottman's couples work will help you manage conflict more effectively. By introducing strategies and habits that encourage harmony in your relationship, you will learn how to manage conflict with more ease.
Couples therapy can help you create a relationship that not only reignites your sexual relationship but also forges your emotional connection.
For LGBTQIA+ and Non-Traditional Relationship Clients Interested in Couples Counseling
Cadence Psychology Studio is committed to diversity and inclusion. As such, we enjoy working with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as those in poly, open, and ethical non-monogamy relationships who are interested in couples therapy. Relationship therapy can help you improve communication, navigate conflict better, enjoy more pleasurable sex, and strengthen your bond.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure if Couples Therapy Is Right for You…
We are not sure we can make the financial and time commitment to couples therapy right now.
Understandably, you may be concerned about the time and money it will take to work with a couples counselor. However, couples therapy is an investment in your relationship, your family, and your well-being. Because your negative patterns took time to develop, unraveling them and improving how you communicate will take dedication. But investing in your partnership now will pay dividends in your future health and happiness.
We make couples therapy more affordable by offering different billing rates by different therapists. Every therapist at Cadence Psychology Studio is selected, trained, and supervised by Dr. Jessicah, ensuring you will receive quality couples or marriage therapy.
My partner told me they won't attend couples counseling.
Although couples therapy is most effective when both partners are present and engaged in the process, individual sessions focusing on better understanding and improving your role in communication can also steer your relationship in a positive direction. Not only can you learn about healthy relationship functioning—such as how to skillfully communicate your thoughts, feelings, and needs while navigating through conflict—but you can also identify your part in the dynamic that keeps your relationship stuck.
We don't want to stay together. Can a couples therapist help us through the separation process?
Even if you’ve decided to separate or dissolve the marriage, couples counseling can benefit you. Learning how to respectfully and “consciously uncouple” can be a valuable experience that will enrich your present and future relationships. You will learn how to navigate this transition with a minimum of emotional pain, for both you, your children, extended family, and friends.
If you’re trying to decide whether to separate or salvage the relationship, therapy with a discernment counselor can help guide you to a mutually beneficial decision.
Your relationship is worth the investment.
*https://www.gottman.com/product/the-seven-principles-for-making-marriage-work/
**https://www.gottman.com/blog/3-tips-for-couples-to-stay-connected-after-baby/#:
***https://vmtherapy.com/relationship-care-package
****The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy by Dr. Susan M. Johnson
There is so much to gain from working to improve your relationship with a skillful couples therapist.
To book a FREE 15-minute phone consult or to schedule your first session, call or text 317-747-0574 or visit our contact page.
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