Couples Counselling

“Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” Christopher Reeve

All relationships begin with hope. Before love, before care, before sharing time and building a life together there is hope. If you are considering couples counselling whether to strengthen your relationship or because the issues between you seem bigger than the love you have shared, you have at least some measure of hope that tomorrow can be better than today. You can choose to let your issues and hurts shape your tomorrow or you can choose to let hope illuminate your path forward.

My role as a couples counsellor or coach is to help you build on the hope that once brought you together, and nurtured your choice to be together in a loving, caring, happy and satisfying relationship. When that hope is again nurtured it can become more powerful than any issue or problem that you face and it can help you bring more love and more joy back into your relationship. 

When working with couples I remember that the individuals before me were once deeply in love and happily building towards the future they were dreaming of. I also remember that no matter what curve balls life has thrown at them, or how bleak the present and future may currently seem, they are still those same individuals that were once happily in love and who would like to get back to a place where they can look forward to their future. More than just mediation, my role is to help couples remember that they are still the same people who fell in love with each other and that those qualities that endeared them to one another are still present. 

At some point in a relationship differences, or outside events or pressures can cause even the best relationships to experience cracks. By exploring the moments when both individuals were at their best and their relationship was at its strongest, clues can emerge to help guide the couple into seeing pathways back to the hope, love and happiness they previously experienced, and the future they both desire. I have no doubt that when hope is nurtured within a relationship any problem, obstacle or challenge can be overcome and love and happiness can return and find an inviting home in which to remain. 

While most traditional forms of therapy focus on fixing the problems or issues, I believe our time is more effectively spent if we focus on what is most desired.  This allows hope to become a more significant factor earlier on in the process. Solution-Focused Therapy utilizes conversation about the details of the solution to provide more helpful information and description about the future that is desired and brings into clearer focus possible pathways to nurture that desired future into reality.