COUPLES THERAPY

Regardless of whether you are dating or are in a long term relationship, couples therapy may be your focus. You know there is something that needs to change in your relationship but you’re not sure what it is. In order to heal your past and reconnect as a couple, you need to better understand each other.

Regardless of how long your relationship has lasted or the issues that have brought you in for therapy, you both need solutions. You don’t want to fight the way you have at home or feel negative emotions; you need help from a trained therapist who has extensive expertise in treating couples.

Dr. Strachowski believes that all couples can improve their relationship if both partners are open and willing to change. Change happens in an environment in which both partners feel understood, supported and safe. Dr. Strachowski is committed to helping couples create a relationship that is secure, healthy and happy. One where both people get their needs met and a strong connection is maintained. She shares with her clients the secrets to why some couples are happier and healthier and how they can achieve this.

Dating or Premarital counseling: You’ve hit a snag in your relationship you are worried- what does this mean? You planned on spending the rest of your life with your partner but ask, how do we work as a team? Do we have strong enough communication skills to get what we both want? You want to prevent long-term problems and need some help in figuring things out before it gets unsolvable.

Marriage or long-term relationship counseling: There has been a rupture in your relationship. Whether it is an affair, a significant mood disturbance, the stress of living in the Bay Area and/or raising children, something is not working anymore. You or your partner feel hurt, frustrated, alone, and misunderstood. You want to repair your relationship and get back on track.

Couples therapy involves understanding both partners as well as the couple as a unit. What did each of you learn from experiences with your own families, how do you cope with stress, and communicate or express your feelings? How did the two of you meet and become a couple? What attracted you to each other and what about that has changed? What stressors have affected both of you in the past and what bothers you today? How do issues such as parenting, work, and outside commitments affect your relationship?

The answers to these questions will help Dr. Strachowski formulate a model for understanding who you are as a couple and what you need to move forward. Are you similar or different in your Love Styles? How do your similarities or differences affect you as a couple? The first step to helping couples create a secure relationship is to have both of you understand and appreciate who each partner is as an individual. Dr. Strachowski utilizes empirically proven therapy techniques by borrowing skills from the leading couple’s therapists today. Empirically supported couple therapies include the following: traditional behavioral couple therapy (behavioral marital therapy), cognitive behavioral couple therapy, insight-oriented couple therapy, emotionally focused couple therapy, and integrative behavioral couple therapy. In addition, she uses experiential skills in session as well. The best way to reconnect is in the therapy office. Once you have a positive experience in session feeling heard and understood, you can apply the things you learned into your home life. Change starts by seeing your partner from a new perspective and rekindling a connection thought to be lost.

Couples therapy appointments will be scheduled anywhere between 1.5 hours to 3 hour intensive sessions. The course of couple’s therapy will vary depending on the duration of your problems and your goals. For couples who need a tune up or who want to prevent potential problems, therapy may take just a few sessions. Couples with long standing problems may need ongoing therapy for a longer period of time. Historically, clients with busy lives and full schedules, prefer sessions to be less frequent but for a longer duration. This can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Prior to meeting as a couple, Dr. Strachowski may choose to do an intake session with each of you individually.

To determine your and your partner’s Love Style, take Dr. Strachowski’s free quiz
@ SecureinLove.Com

If you are ready to improve your relationship, call Dr. Strachowski today to set up your first session.