Couples Therapy in St. Louis, MO
When the same conflicts leave you feeling hurt, disconnected, or alone, there’s a way to explore what’s really going on.
Couples therapy helps you explore the emotions beneath conflict, tend to unhealed pain, and build a more loving, secure connection over time.
Many couples find themselves caught in familiar tensions, miscommunication, emotional distance, or reactivity, even when both people deeply care about each other. Sometimes the way we learned to connect or protect ourselves shows up in ways that leave everyone feeling unheard, overwhelmed, or alone. Couples therapy offers a contained space to slow down together, understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and begin building connection in a way that feels responsive, secure, and sustainable.
Common Reasons Couples Seek Therapy
Couples come to therapy for many different reasons. Sometimes there is a specific problem such as an affair, ongoing conflict, differences in sexual desire, or disagreements about parenting or finances. Other times, couples know they are unhappy or disconnected but cannot quite identify what has changed. We can explore the cycle you get caught in, what each of you is longing for, and how to create a more secure way of relating.
Communication and Conflict
Couples may come to therapy when they have the same arguments over and over, struggle to communicate without becoming defensive or shutting down, or avoid difficult conversations until resentment builds. Sometimes one partner pursues connection while the other withdraws, creating a cycle that leaves both people feeling frustrated and alone.
Trust, Betrayal, and Intimacy
Couples may seek therapy after an affair or other betrayal, when trust has been damaged, or when they are struggling with emotional or physical intimacy. Differences in sexual desire, feeling emotionally uncared for, or feeling more like roommates than partners can create distance that is difficult to repair on your own.
Family, Parenting, and Everyday Stress
Couples may also struggle with differences in parenting, the mental load of family life, division of household responsibilities, money, in-laws, or boundaries with extended family. Major life transitions, blended-family dynamics, or substance use can add another layer of stress to an already strained relationship.
When You’re Unsure About the Relationship
Some couples come to therapy because they are questioning whether the relationship can be repaired or whether they want to stay together. You may feel torn between staying and leaving, be considering separation or divorce, or feel uncertain about what you want. Therapy can provide a space to explore these questions honestly and understand what you need before deciding what comes next. If you are experiencing significant uncertainty about your marriage or relationship, you may also find it helpful to read more about marital doubt and relationship uncertainty.
How I Work With Couples
My work with couples is informed by Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and the Gottman Method. These approaches give us a framework for understanding the interaction patterns, emotions, and needs that shape your relationship. Whether you are trying to repair trust after betrayal, improve communication, reconnect emotionally, or decide what direction your relationship should take, we will work toward a clearer understanding of what is happening between you. If you are unsure whether you want to stay in the relationship or are considering separation, Discernment Counseling may be a better fit than traditional couples therapy.
Relationships I Especially Enjoy Working With
I work with adults 18+ in relationships of all kinds, including friends, colleagues, monogamous and non-monogamous or polyamorous partners, adult children and their parents, adult siblings, and other extended family relationships. As long as at least two consenting adults are willing to participate in the therapy process together, my door is open to you.
Relationships are an important part of everyday life, but sometimes it can be difficult to understand what is happening between you and another person. An outside perspective can help you slow down, understand the patterns that keep you stuck, and find a different way forward. Whether you are experiencing conflict, disconnection, or recurring patterns that feel difficult to change, couples, relationship, or family therapy may help.
Couples Therapy in Missouri, Illinois, Florida & Oregon
I offer couples therapy and relationship therapy in person in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as online for clients located in Missouri, Illinois, Florida, and Oregon. Whether you are married, dating, engaged, or navigating another committed relationship, therapy provides a space to slow down, understand the patterns between you, and work toward a more secure and connected relationship.
You might be asking yourself how relationship therapy can actually help.
Couples therapy can help when you feel stuck in the same arguments, disconnected from one another, or unsure how to move forward. It can provide a space to understand the patterns between you, work through hurt and unmet needs, and build a more secure and connected relationship.
Through couples therapy, you can learn to:
- Identify the emotions that drive your behaviors and learn to share those emotions with one another
- Identify what you need and learn to ask for it in a healthy way
- Listen to each other with the goal of understanding one another’s perspective
- Become open to and willing to try to meet one another’s needs as best as you can
- Recognize and use your complementary strengths to build a closer relationship
- Be honest with yourself about your role in moments of distance and disconnect
- Take responsibility for your own growth and how you show up in the relationship
- Work through conflict while maintaining connection and reducing harm to yourself and each other
- Maintain a healthy balance between being your own person and staying connected to your partner
Couples Therapy Cost and Insurance
I do not bill insurance for couples or family therapy because of the way this type of therapy is structured. I use a family systems approach, which means I work with the relationship as a whole rather than identifying one person as the “patient” or making one person’s diagnosis the focus of treatment.
Insurance typically requires therapy to be provided to an identified patient with a mental health diagnosis and for treatment to focus on that individual’s medical needs. Because couples and family therapy focuses on the relationship and the patterns between people, I am not able to bill insurance for these services.
This does not mean that you or another family member cannot have a mental health diagnosis. It simply means that a diagnosis is not the focus of our couples therapy sessions.
Couples Therapy Session Length
Couples therapy sessions are longer than individual therapy because both partners need time to participate. Sessions are available in two formats:
90-minute session — $262.50
2-hour session — $350