WORKING WITH COUPLES
RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING AND THERAPY
It’s natural for couple relationships to be challenging at times. Our expectations of what it means to be in a loving relationship can vary from our partner and when it feels like our needs and wishes aren’t being met, we can feel disconnected and vulnerable.
We may try to protect ourselves in dysfunctional and, sometimes, painful ways and sometimes we are able to work through these difficulties and differences without any help.
However, when we feel overlwhelmed or stuck, it can be helpful to seek professional guidance.
PRACTICALITIES
Couples sessions work best when they are 75 or 90 minutes long. This allows us to make better progress together. The length/frequency of sessions can be discussed between us.
​INTIMACY FROM THE INSIDE OUT © (IFIO)
Intimacy from the Inside Out© is a model of couples therapy that draws primarily from the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of psychotherapy, but also includes aspects of psychodynamic theory, systems thinking and neuroscience.
It carries the concepts of Internal Family Systems (IFS) into a relational setting and aims to use the intimate relationship as a vehicle for the growth and healing of each partner, as well as the couple.
It is a non-pathologizing approach that helps people make sense of their life experience in a safe and collaborative way.
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The aim of IFIO therapy is to help you have difficult conversations without them being destructive or wounding. Wounding from childhood is often beneath troubled interpersonal dynamics and the exploration of this can become a rich place for growth for you as a couple, as well for each partner.
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When each member of the couple can have a self-compassionate, secure relationship with themselves, they can stay connected to themselves and their partner even in times of stress and relational rupture.
THE ROLE OF AN IFIO THERAPIST
As an IFIO therapist, my aims are to:
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Help you identify repeating patterns of communication in a safe way
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Offer the opportunity to gain an insight into these patterns
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Invite you to communicate in a new way