Couples Therapy & Relationship Counseling

When couples repeatedly get stuck in entrenched communication or behavioral patterns, couples therapy or relationship counseling can help you find new ways forward.

What couples therapy can help with

Becoming more aware of your own needs and expressing them
Listening to your partner with more empathy and understanding
Discovering new perspectives
Exploring how our personal and family histories shape the patterns, needs, and expectations we bring into the relationship
Recognizing and changing recurring communication patterns
Speaking to each other with more appreciation and openness
Allowing new, positive experiences as a couple
Seeing differences as opportunities rather than threats
Gently addressing old wounds and creating space for healing
Bringing back lightness, humor, and connection
Developing compassion — for yourself and for one another
Learning not to resolve tensions immediately, but to stay connected while holding them
Becoming more present instead of getting lost in old stories
Balancing closeness and autonomy
Allowing trust to grow — at the pace that feels right

Sometimes couples sense that something is wrong, even if daily life seems to function well. Perhaps closeness has been lost, or it feels difficult to express needs. At such times, a conversation with a neutral, professional person can help both partners understand each other better.

When couples therapy can be helpful

In many situations, a neutral outside perspective can be supportive — especially when arguments and misunderstandings repeat themselves or have become stuck.
Some couples discover that their expectations of the relationship no longer match. Old wounds remain unspoken, while each partner tries in their own way to deal with frustration, disappointment, or withdrawal. Blame arises, and conflict escalates.
Couples counseling can help you regain orientation. It helps clarify what is missing — your wishes, boundaries, and what each partner can contribute.

Learning to talk about feelings together

In relationships, we often take a lot of responsibility for each other — and sometimes lose touch with our own emotions. Instead of expressing what touches us, we may criticize or withdraw.
In couples therapy, you learn to reconnect honestly — with yourself and with each other.
It is not about who is “right.” It is about what lies beneath the behavior: perhaps an old wound, unfulfilled longing, the wish for safety or closeness.
When both partners can show themselves openly, a space emerges in which genuine connection becomes possible again.

How talking to a third person can help

Some conflicts are difficult to resolve on your own — not for lack of goodwill, but because you are too entangled in your own patterns.
A neutral person can help open new perspectives.
In counseling, I support you in listening to each other again — without immediately judging or reacting.
I help you speak about difficult topics with honesty and respect.
The goal is not to “change the other person,” but to understand what is happening on the inside and how you can reconnect as a couple.

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When motivation differs between partners

Ideally, both partners want to change something.
But sometimes one person suffers more from the situation than the other. Even then, counseling can be meaningful.
The willingness of just one partner to look more closely can already initiate a process.
What matters most is the readiness to engage honestly with the situation.
The rest can grow — step by step.

praxis collip