Couples Counselling
Couples Counselling for 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC partners of all genders & orientations.
Partners in 2SLGBTQ+ relationships can engage in couples counselling in a queer-friendly, gender-affirming, sex-positive, & kink-friendly space.
BIPOC clients (including children of immigrant parents) can receive support for navigating cultural differences, exploring their identity, and centering feelings of belonging.
You’ll find zero judgment here, only support for your culture, race, ethnicity, religious background, sexuality, sexual/relational orientation, & gender identity.
Couples Counselling + Trauma
Relational therapy can be helpful in cases when one or both partners have past experiences of trauma such as sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), &/or traumatic childhood environments.
If a partner has a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD tendencies, or other personality traits that cause further complications with communication, Couples Counselling can help both/all partners feel seen, heard, and understood.
Couples Counselling can support partners who have past experience in relationships that included Gender-Based Violence, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), or Domestic Violence (DV) as they learn to trust their new partner.
Couples Counselling + Non-monogamy
Therapy for partners can be helpful for partners who are navigating non-monogamy / polyamoury. This is especially the case if you are newly considering non-monogamy or exploring open relationships for the first time. Perhaps you have been in polyamourous relationships for many years but are experiencing other life changes like moving to a new home or having new baby. Within your polycule, a recent break-up or new partner can shift existing dynamics. Therapy can help you work on your communication with each other. You may also benefit from being guided through the process of developing a clear relationship agreement.
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is the main model we use in couples counselling & relational therapy.
EFT provides a clear map for partners with structured steps and stages to follow on the road to reconnection.
The magic of EFT happens during “engaged encounters”… Guided by the clinician in a structured way, partners turn to each other and reveal their emotional reality. We move slowly towards spending more time in touch with emotions. This is one of the key reasons it’s recommended to use a 1.5 hour time frame for EFT couples sessions.
Through the EFT process, you should gain a deeper understanding of the attachment fears and primary emotions that are motivating your behaviour. We repeat the experiential exercises of expressing your emotions to each other again and again. The goal is for new patterns of interaction to become possible within the sessions and your everyday communication.
EFT Steps & Stages
In Stage 1, we track the automatic behaviour patterns (the “Cycle”) that you both get pulled into because of what you learned during your childhood and past relationships.
In Stage 2, we continue to work on creating safety in the room to explore emotions. When you express attachment needs and fears to partner(s) from a place of vulnerability, it can really shift their own feelings. Partners can accept & validate each other’s attachment needs and fears while demonstrating evoked emotions in real-time.
In Stage 3, we consolidate the work you have accomplished, ensure that skills have been generalized to a variety of situations, and plan for the end of therapy.
We speak softly & slowly, repeat things, & use each other’s words. Messages are finally taken in on an emotional level, not just a cognitive level.
I have changed the “C” from “Client’s Words” to “Copy” because I want to invite clients to use RISSSSC with each other just as I do with them in session.
Ready for the next step?
Choose therapy that works for you:
- In-person therapy in Ottawa West
- Daytime & evening appointments