Couples

If your relationship feels strained—maybe conversations turn into arguments more often, or you’re struggling to connect like you used to—you might be wondering if couples therapy could help. Many people are asking the same question: Thriveworks data shows that interest in couples therapy grew 39 percent in 2024, outpacing all…

A healthy relationship should make you feel safe, heard, and secure. Betrayal shatters that foundation entirely, leaving the betrayed partner feeling like their world has fundamentally changed and often questioning everything they thought they knew about their relationship. While betrayal occurs across all types of relationships, I see it most…

Dawn Laven (not her real name) and her husband have had sex maybe twice in 10 years. She blames the most recent drought on the discomforts of menopause, but the spark left her 27-year marriage long before that. “We’re just friends, roommates, people who do life together,” Laven says. “There’s…

You text your partner after another rough day, hoping for a little reassurance, only to be met with silence. Meanwhile, they’re feeling overwhelmed, unsure how to respond without being pulled into a conversation they don’t feel equipped to handle.  This push-pull dance is the hallmark of an anxious-avoidant attachment relationship,…

Healthy relationships have the power to bring joy, connection, and improved self-esteem. However, anxiety can disrupt those feelings and take a toll, both on the person experiencing it and their partner.  By understanding the roots of anxiety and its impact on the relationship, couples can create emotional safety and develop…

Childhood trauma can cast a long shadow over a person’s life, affecting how you connect with others well into adulthood. It can make it difficult to navigate conflict, develop an effective communication style, build trust, and overcome fears of vulnerability. If early traumatic experiences are affecting your adult relationships, it’s…

When it comes to relationships, clinical counselors are exposed to an amazing variety of situations. We see new relationships steeped in love and passion. We see mature relationships rooted in trust over time. We see struggling couples and desperate couples. We see the typical as well as the unusual. We…

We all get jealous occasionally—but retroactive jealousy can make someone start obsessing over their partner’s romantic past. Retroactive jealousy, also known as Rebecca syndrome, can be so intense that it can derail a person’s relationship, mental health, and ability to trust others.  Although this type of relationship anxiety can warp…

Infidelity, or cheating, is one of the leading causes of relationship strain—with more than 60% of divorced couples citing infidelity as a reason for their divorce [1]. Engaging in physical or emotional intimacy with someone outside the relationship can breach trust and cause sometimes irreparable damage to a relationship’s foundation….

One of the hardest parts of therapy can be reckoning with our emotions. Emotions affect all of us, but sometimes focusing on the ones that feel good can cause us to avoid the ones that feel worse. However, though not all emotions feel good at first, it can help to…

Self-sabotage in relationships involves engaging in self-destructive patterns of behavior—whether unconsciously or consciously—which threaten to end a romantic relationship. This may involve distancing yourself, ignoring your partner, or putting emotional walls up. Often, self-sabotaging is related to past experiences or trauma.  Self-sabotage can harm or even end relationships that would…

Despite what it sounds like, sleep divorce doesn’t always spell the end of a relationship. It’s what happens when one or both partners decide to sleep in separate beds. As controversial as it sounds, it’s actually pretty common.  But does sleep divorce truly spell the end of a relationship? And…