At Main Line Marriage Counseling we are experts at helping couples tell their story. We are here to listen to our clients so that we can help them listen to each other. We are extremely passionate about relationships, specifically the couple dynamic. Whether you call it marriage counseling, couples therapy, relationship counseling, pre-marital counseling, post-affair counseling; it is all about connection to your partner. Here at Main Line Marriage Counseling we help my clients to be heard; to take a relationship that is dying on the vine and turn it into a thriving partnership. We all yearn for reciprocity in a relationship, and the embodiment of love and commitment, which can last a lifetime. However, relationships aren’t easy. We help my clients navigate through the rough seas. We offer a different perspective on the obstacles most long-lasting relationships face.
Common reasons couples come to couples counseling include:
- Infidelity
- Loss of desire/intimacy
- New parents
- Pre-marital concerns
- “Empty Nesters”
- Poor communication
- Substance use/abuse
- Lack of conflict resolution skills
This is just a small sampling of the problems we can help couples overcome. Every relationship or marriage is different. Therefore, the reasons you come to couples therapy will be unique to your relationship.
As a relationship therapist, we provide marriage, couples and pre-marital counseling to help you keep your relationship strong!
What are the warning signs of a marriage in trouble?
- Ridicule.
- Contempt.
- Lack of trust.
- Stonewalling (ignoring).
- Name-calling.
- Hurtful comments.
- Sarcasm that is hurtful.
- No or infrequent sex.
- Not feeling attracted to one another.
- No or very little affection.
- Avoiding phone calls or emails.
- Refusing to discuss things in the relationship.
- Defensiveness.
- Working constantly in or outside the home or spending all the time with the children somas to avoid talking or spending time together.
- Criticism.
- Physical or emotional abuse.
Any of these sound familiar to you? As marriage therapists, we are familiar with all of these issues and can help you and your spouse find the best path forward. There is no wrong reason to reach out to a professional in a time of need. You and your partner deserve a safe and secure relationship. Through marriage therapy, we can give you and your partner the tools you need to more efficiently and confidently manage life’s challenges. A stronger marriage will, in turn lead to a happier, more fulfilling life.
Relationships are our specialty.
Although we offer counseling for a wide range of emotional and mental health concerns, we specialize in helping people on their quest for a meaningful relationship. If you are feeling lost and struggling, we are confident that Main Line Marriage Counseling has the experience to help you rediscover what brings happiness to your life and your relationship. Through therapy, there is always a way to address the issues you face and learn coping strategies to help you right now, as well as in the future. Every relationship faces battles to fight and hurdles to overcome. Couples Therapy focuses on identifying ineffective thought and behavior patterns in order to help actualize the dreams of both partners. After recognizing underlying problems, clients can fully realize their strengths and adjust certain behaviors and thoughts to see things a different, healthier way.
We spend the majority of our time focusing on better ways to help you and your partner. Although our greatest assets are our compassion and empathy for a couple in crisis, we also have a plethora of resources, trainings, books, etc. at our disposal to give our clients the best shot at becoming masters of their own life and relationship.
Effective Couples & Marriage Counseling Techniques
It’s important that you see a therapist who uses evidence-based counseling techniques for the issues you are facing. As a couples therapists, we have knowledge of the most effective couples therapy techniques out available to therapists today. Some of the couples and marriage therapy models we may reference or use in our work together may include:
- Gottman Method – John and Julie Gottman
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) – Dr. Sue Johnson
- The work and teachings of Esther Perel
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Family Systems
- Humanistic (Rogerian)
We Meet Couples Where They Are
It is our job to use the techniques from the couples therapy models we mentioned above to help you address the issues coming up in your individual relationship or marriage. By choosing the most effective techniques to help you reach your goals, we will teach you new ways to communicate, resolve conflict, and increase intimacy and connectedness. We are responsible for making sure your wants, needs, desires, and feelings are truly heard. That doesn’t mean you get off easy!
Both Partners Must Commit to the Couples Counseling Process
It is up to YOU as a partner in your relationship to keep your side of the street clean and work on the couple. To make real progress, both partners will need be open and honest. You’ll need to commit to the therapy process with all its ups and downs. In order to truly get the most from couples and marriage counseling, you’ll need work harder than me. In fact, maybe even harder than your spouse. Practice makes perfect, so you will use your time away from the sessions to hone all we have learned when we are together.
What is the couples therapy process like?
efore the first session, we ask that you print and fill out intake paperwork, which helps me learn more about you each individually. The initial session is an 85-minute intake where we ask you both questions regarding your relationship, like where and how you met and so forth. This session is not intervention focused. Instead, we take this time to take in all you have to offer in this session; we soak your relationship up like a sponge. Our goal by the end of the session is to give you hope for a better tomorrow, so we listen closely to your story.
We typically recommend that couples make our sessions (a special time set aside specifically for you and your partner/spouse) more frequent in the beginning. As counseling progresses, we’ll make appointments farther apart as we approach the maintenance stage of therapy. You can expect to have a dyadic conversation in our office. This means you will be doing a lot of talking to each other with my guidance and support as needed. Some couples ask if they can begin therapy individually and then move into counseling. Our suggestion is an emphatic “no.” However, we see many of our clients individually after we have the initial couples session.
Location of Main Line Marriage Counseling
Our counseling office is easily accessible from anywhere on the Main Line. While we are located in Paoli, most of my clients travel from other areas along the Main Line out of Philadelphia. For instance, I see clients from Haverford, Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Chesterbrook, Malvern or Exton. We also offer Virtual Therapy. If you are looking for compassionate couples or marriage counseling, the Main Line will get you to my counseling office where both of you will feel welcomed and heard.
Begin Couples & Marriage Counseling Today
If you live in the Philadelphia area and your relationship needs some help, I can help. You and your spouse deserve to feel heard and supported. It’s time to begin reconnecting. To start couples and marriage therapy, you just need to:
- Contact Main Line Marriage Counseling
- Begin Meeting with Natalie for couples counseling
- Practice the techniques you learn
- Begin reconnecting & fall in love all over again
Your relationship doesn’t have to stay stuck! We can help.