Couple's Counselling
No Relationship is perfect. Sometimes involving a neutral third party in working through challenges can be helpful. Couple’s counselling may be a fit for you if you would like to work with your partner or loved one on:
- Improving communication
- Building trust
- Navigating life transitions
- Parenting concerns
- Managing conflict
- Increasing intimacy or connection
- Dealing with infidelity
- Preparing for marriage or long-term commitment
- Exploring changes to your “normal”
- Preparing for parenthood
- Considering or navigating separation
What to Expect in the First Few Sessions:
The first few sessions of couple’s counselling are focused on getting to know you as a couple: What you are struggling with and where you are stuck as well as what brought you together in the first place and what is working in your relationship.
The first session is typically with both members of the couple. After a discussion about what you can expect in counselling, how privacy and confidentiality is maintained, and the opportunity for you to ask any questions you have, we will move on to learning more about you.
Pre-Marriage or Pre-Cohabitation Counselling
Deciding to enter into a long-term, committed relationship is often a big transition in a relationship. Participating in counselling prior to this change is preventative in nature, and research shows that it increases the chance of a successful relationship.
Pre-Marriage or Pre-Cohabitation counselling provides the couple a space to:
- enhance communication and problem solving skills
- address any issues that already exist
- talk through potential future challenges
- learn new things about one another
- nurture connection and intimacy
- ensure your expectations for one another are healthy and fair
- plan for the future
Building a stronger foundation for your relationship at this stage is an investment in your future!
Couple’s Counselling or Mediation
We offer counselling to couple who are considering or navigating separation. This kind of counselling focuses on supporting the relationship between separating partners and helping each person to listen to one another and work on improving the relationship, even if the relationship is changing. We do not, however, provide mediation services to separating couples.
Separating couples may benefit from counselling if they have made the decision to consciously uncouple and would like to do so in an amicable and collaborative fashion. Counselling may also be appropriate if a separating couple feels they would benefit from support in meeting a specific goal. For example, a couple may want support in deciding how to share the information with their children or strategies for successful co-parenting.
Mediation, on the other hand, focuses on supporting disputing parties to come to a resolution. Mediation may be helpful for separating couples if they are experiencing conflict or differences of opinion on how to proceed with some element of relationship dissolution. Mediation provides an environment for collaborative and creative problems solving with hopes of avoiding litigation or costly court battles. Often, couples who utilize mediation are able to dissolve their relationship with less acrimony or conflict than may be involved in legal proceedings.
If you are not sure if counselling may be a fit for your situation, please book a complimentary meet and greet session to explore your options.
FAQs
We typically recommend couples book 90 minute sessions. 90 minutes allows us to hear from both of you and to have sufficient time to create some movement in the session. 60 and 120 minute sessions are also an option. We trust you to choose the length of session that works best for you.
When you attend counselling with someone else, like your partner, how payment is processed can often be adjusted to meet your unique needs. Often, there is the option to split the session cost between the two of you, or to have one partner pay. In some cases, the options available may be influenced by the guidelines of your insurance provider. We can discuss your unique needs and situation in our meet and greet session.