Warm. Direct. Structured. No bullshit.
Most couples don’t come to therapy because they don’t love each other.
They come because something has shifted.
What used to feel safe now feels tense, distant, or exhausting.
The same fights keep happening.
The repair isn’t happening.
Both people are carrying resentment, fear, grief, or frustration under the surface.
Couples counseling is not about determining who is right.
It is about getting honest about what is happening, learning how to communicate without emotional destruction, and building a relationship that works in real life.
If you are ready to show up, be accountable, and practice new skills outside of session, couples therapy can create meaningful change.
Schedule a Free Consultation Through Headway
Who I work best with
I work with married couples, dating couples, engaged couples, LGBTQ+ couples, and consensually non-monogamous relationships.
Couples counseling with me is a good fit if:
• You are tired of repeating the same arguments
• You want better communication, not just less conflict
• You want to rebuild trust after rupture, emotional distance, or relationship injuries
• You are willing to learn new ways of relating, even if it is uncomfortable at first
• You are ready to stop winning fights and start repairing the relationship
I am warm, compassionate, and grounded.
I am also direct.
I will name patterns, interrupt harmful dynamics, and tell you what I am seeing, even when it is hard to hear.
Couples counseling can help with
Every couple is different, but common reasons people seek couples therapy include:
• Frequent conflict or constant tension
• Communication breakdown or emotional shutdown
• Resentment and emotional exhaustion
• Repeating the same script in arguments
• Disconnection, lack of intimacy, or loss of friendship
• Trust issues and relationship injuries
• Mixed feelings about staying together
• Co-parenting conflict
• Navigating major transitions, including relocation, career changes, pregnancy, infertility, blended families, or caregiving stress
Sometimes the relationship is in crisis.
Sometimes it is not a crisis.
It is a relationship that has slowly drifted into disconnection.
Either way, therapy can help if both people are willing.
Therapy works best when both people are still invested in the relationship.
That does not mean things have to be good.
It does not mean trust has to be intact.
It does not mean you have everything figured out.
But if one person already has a foot out the door, relationship repair becomes much harder.
At that point, our work may shift toward clarity, decision-making, separation, co-parenting, or navigating the next chapter as respectfully as possible.
The strongest couples are often not the ones who wait until the relationship is on life support.
They are the ones who notice a problem, address it early, and practice repair before resentment has years to take root.
What couples therapy looks like with me
Couples therapy is not a weekly vent session.
Most couples have already spent months, and sometimes years, explaining why they are frustrated, hurt, angry, disconnected, or exhausted.
By the time people get to my office, we usually agree on one thing:
Things are not working.
We know it is hard.
The question is: now what?
Therapy is where we start answering that question.
That means we will:
• Identify your relationship patterns and triggers
• Learn how to interrupt escalation
• Strengthen emotional safety and repair
• Build communication skills that actually work
• Rebuild trust through consistent behavior, not promises
• Create boundaries and agreements that fit your relationship
• Practice between sessions so real change happens outside the therapy office
You will get both emotional depth and practical tools.
Because insight without action rarely changes a relationship.
We will talk.
We will reflect.
And then we will do the damn thing.
A note about secrets
I have a no-secrets policy in couples counseling.
That does not mean you lose all privacy.
Privacy and secrecy are not the same thing.
Here is how I explain it:
We all go to the bathroom.
We all know it happens.
Most of us do not provide a play-by-play afterward.
That is privacy.
Privacy is normal, healthy, and necessary.
Secrets are different.
Secrets directly affect or harm another person while they are being kept in the dark.
In couples therapy, relationship-altering secrets make it very difficult to do meaningful work.
If you disclose something to me individually that significantly affects the relationship, we will work together on how to bring it into the couples process.
I will help you prepare for that conversation.
I will help you think through how to communicate it.
I will help create structure around it.
What I will not do is hold relationship-altering secrets for one partner while continuing couples therapy with both.
Couples therapy requires honesty.
Without honesty, there is very little to build on.
My style: compassion + accountability
Let me say something very clearly:
I am not here to be the referee.
I am also not here to validate harmful dynamics because one person is louder, more persuasive, or more wounded in the moment.
I will support both of you.
I will also hold both of you accountable.
That includes:
• How you speak to each other
• How you handle conflict
• How you repair
• How you show up outside therapy
If you want someone to side with you and tell you you are right, I am not your therapist.
If you want a therapist who will help you build a healthier relationship with honesty and care, we might be a great fit.
PREPARE/ENRICH
I am trained in PREPARE/ENRICH, one of the most researched and widely used couples assessment tools.
It helps couples move beyond vague conversations like:
“We just need to communicate better.”
Instead, we get specific.
PREPARE/ENRICH can help identify:
• Strengths in the relationship
• Growth areas that need attention
• Conflict style and repair patterns
• Roles and expectations
• Family-of-origin influences
• Intimacy and emotional connection
• Stress and external pressures
PREPARE/ENRICH can be especially helpful for:
• Premarital counseling
• Couples preparing for marriage
• Couples in a stuck cycle
• Couples who want structured guidance
• Couples who want measurable change
PREPARE/ENRICH is available as a stand-alone premarital counseling service and can also be incorporated into ongoing couples therapy when appropriate.
It is not a test you pass or fail.
It is a roadmap.
Not a good fit
I believe in clarity, not false promises.
Couples therapy may not be a good fit if:
• One person is not willing to participate or is only attending to prove a point
• One person already has a foot out the door and is not interested in repair
• There is active ongoing abuse, intimidation, coercive control, or fear
• One partner wants therapy as a way to pressure or manipulate the other
• There is ongoing dishonesty or relationship-altering secrecy
• There is an active affair or ongoing violation of the agreed-upon boundaries of the relationship
• Either person is unwilling to do work between sessions
If those dynamics are present, we may need a different path, including individual therapy, safety planning, separation support, co-parenting work, or referrals.
Next Steps
If you are ready to get started, the fastest way is to schedule a free 15-minute consultation through Headway.
Email:
dr.janice@novatidecounseling.com
Call or Text:
214-394-2091