COUPLES AND MARRIAGE COUNSELING 

Do you feel disconnected from your partner, as though you have lost the closeness you once shared?
Do you find that your arguments occur in the same frustrating pattern each time, regardless of what you are arguing about?
Are you dealing with loss of trust resulting from a major betrayal such as infidelity?
Are you struggling with intimacy and passion in your relationship?
 
If you long to regain the emotional and physical intimacy that you and your partner once shared, couples therapy at NYCCT can help you do so. Our couples therapists will help you understand each other and reestablish effective and loving communication, and ultimately strengthen your relationship through shared values, beliefs, and hope.
 
At NYCCT, we have therapists with formal training in the Gottman Method and Emotionally-Focused Therapy, the two leading forms of couples therapy that are research-backed and proven to help couples strengthen their relationships.
 
Couples therapy sessions are 50-minutes in length. We recommend that you meet with your couples therapist on a weekly basis during the initial stages of therapy. You and your therapist may adjust the frequency of sessions depending on your needs.

GOTTMAN METHOD 

​The Gottman Method, which was created by researchers Drs. John and Julie Gottman, is grounded in 40+ years of psychological research on what works in relationships that are happy and stable. The Gottman Method has a heavy emphasis on psychoeducation and teaching couples practical skills to address the most common problems that couples face.
 
Using Gottman Method Couples Therapy, your therapist will guide you through a three-part process:
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• Part one: Become better friends and increase your positive feelings for one another.
• Part two: Change the way you handle conflict, by learning concrete skills for communication.​
• Part three: Build a sense of shared meaning and make life dreams come true.

The major aim of therapy isn’t simply increasing your knowledge about yourself, your partner, and the patterns of interaction between you. Therapy becomes effective as you actually apply the new knowledge and skills learned in-session to break ineffective patterns and develop better ones.

EMOTIONALLY-FOCUSED THERAPY (EFT)

Emotionally-Focused Therapy is an evidence-based form of couples therapy developed by Dr. Sue Johnson and rooted in attachment theory and science. EFT is often the first-line of therapy for couples who find themselves trapped in frustrating, dysfunctional cycles of communication that tend to repeat themselves over and over, regardless of what the couple is arguing about.
 
EFT is an experiential form of therapy that uses emotion as the lever of change to restore responsiveness in relationships. Under the direction of the therapist, partners are guided to reach underneath reactive emotions and behaviors such as anger and defensiveness. By accessing and sharing their more vulnerable emotions and attachment needs, each partner learns how to communicate in a way that brings their partner closer to them, rather than pushing them away. From this connected position, couples can readily solve life’s problems together.
 
EFT has been shown to be particularly helpful for individuals who struggle to express their emotions (and may be thought of as “emotionless” or “robotic” by their partners), and conversely, for individuals who struggle to regulate their emotions (and may be thought of as “out of control” or “too emotional” by their partners).