Couples often feel angry, hopeless or fearful
when starting relationship therapy. They may struggle to understand how partners who share similar values can have so much
trouble getting along. Or they may grapple with how to build a life together when they have very different worldviews.
They wonder, "Can the relationship be saved? Do I want to save it?" With the help of a skilled relationship
therapist, you and your partner can stop arguing and rediscover the passion. You can stop avoiding one another
and start enjoying companionship and closeness. You can build a strong, honest, mutually supportive relationship
and sustain it for the rest of your lives.
Worn out by sarcasm, fighting, or stonewalling? Missing the old warmth
and affection? Don't wait until it's too late. Relationship therapy can help you restore trust, connection, and
romance.
I can help you partners learn new, more effective ways to speak and listen
to each other. If you are stressed out, you can learn
to carve out a nurturing, pleasurable space for each other in the midst of your busy week. If there doesn't seem to be "room"
for different points of view in the relationship, you can work on new ways to accommodate individual needs. When arguing
is a problem, you can learn to manage conflict and work as a team. After an affair, you can discover how to heal the hurt and reestablish commitment and trust.
Most of all, you will learn to recognize what makes things go wrong, change the old patterns, and create the loving relationship
you want.
Jean Fitzpatrick is a member of Marriage Friendly
Therapists, an advanced practitioner network featured
in USA Today,National Public Radio, and the Harvard Mental Health Letter. The network is listed as a resource by the
National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Network, funded by the federal government, for
couples who need marriage counseling. Here's what they wrote: "The National Registry of Marriage
Friendly Therapists was developed to help marriages by linking couples with the most highly qualified therapists in the country."
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Worn down,
hemmed in,
stressed out?
Longing for something more?
For fifteen years Jean Fitzpatrick has helped couples feel passionately
connected to their partners.
Call Jean at 212-802-7333 or 914-941-6478 or send an email to jean@pastoralcounseling.net to ask a question about counseling or arrange an appointment.
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What if one partner isn't sure about relationship therapy?
It's not unusual for one partner to be more comfortable than the other about contacting a couples counselor. Not
everyone is comfortable speaking to a stranger, and sometimes a partner worries that the counseling will focus on meeting
the other person's goals. Relationship therapy can only be effective when both partners' wishes, personalities, and
values are part of the process, and I make every effort to help you both bring your point of view to our work.
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