Some of the reasons couples seek therapy:
Recurrent conflicts, problems communicating, lack emotional intimacy or sex, sexual problems, infidelity, jealousy, lack of trust, dependence, infertility/adoption, separation or divorce, pre-marital counseling, issues related to child-rearing, relatives, friends, money, mutually satisfying time together, substance abuse, values, or religion.
How we can help you:
We provide a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment to work through the specific problems you are encountering in your relationship. Our couples and marriage counseling NYC therapists are focused on helping you achieve the fulfillment and joy you want to experience.
In therapy, we will help you understand that many of the problems and conflicts currently experienced in your relationship are often related to schemas (please CLICK HERE to learn about schema therapy and the schemas which may be affecting your relationship). Couples frequently experience what we call ‘schema clashes’ or instances where one partner’s schemas trigger the other’s schemas. Schema clashes result in episodes of high conflict. One or both partners may feel frustrated or angry, hurt, disappointed, anxious, and/or depressed when these clashes occur. Sometimes one or both partners shut down or distance from the relationship to avoid the painful feelings associated with schema clashes. Unfortunately, this often leads to further conflict or a deadening of the relationship. When schema clashes occur, couples have difficulty seeing a clear path to resolution or reconnection with one another. Usually, it is the opposite of what both want in the relationship. Our couples and marriage counseling NYC therapists can help you find your way out of what feels like a trap or no-win situation.
The first step in schema-based couples therapy is to explore how schemas may be disrupting or promoting conflicts in your relationship. We will ask each of you to fill out questionnaires to identify specific schemas and help you understand how those schemas developed. Through this process, a deeper understanding of yourself and your partner usually unfolds and feelings of empathy increase. We will ask you to attend to (or monitor) your emotional experiences and thoughts and the ways you currently behave to uncover how your schemas are clashing. You will begin to recognize and understand how many of your current behaviors are schema driven, preventing you from meeting your own and/or partner’s emotional needs.
Once you recognize and understand how and when schemas are being triggered and the multitude of ways they can be played out in your relationship, you then can begin the process of intentionally and deliberately making changes. One part of the change phase in schema therapy is to learn how to recognize and change erroneous ‘schema-based’ interpretations about yourself, your partner and/or your relationship. Another part is to help you control certain behaviors associated with specific schemas, so that those behaviors do not continue to disrupt your relationship. Another part is to help you develop alternate ways of behaving towards one another, which lead to better and more desirable outcomes or ‘schema healing’. Whether one person in the relationship or both decide to make changes in tandem, your emotional experience can be significantly changed for the better through our schema-based couples and marriage counseling New York City.
If You’re Interested
Please do not hesitate to contact us for the highest quality Marriage and Couples Counseling NYC provides.
