The love and companionship of another can bring out the best in us.  A good relationship can be nurturing, supportive and enlivening.    However relationships can also be blighted by vicious arguments, affairs, mistrust, sexual issues including desire discrepancy, control, boredom or a deadening growing apart.   Sometimes a relationship can flounder when a big decision is faced (eg whether/when to have a child).

Couples Counselling can help you set your relationship back on course for better times, (or it can ease the difficulties of a breakup).  We will look at the dynamics of what is going on between you, so that you both feel heard and respected.  You can learn better ways of communicating what is most alive for you - appreciations and passions, complaints and resentments, puzzles and concerns, dreams and aspirations.  You can explore how you express love and caring to one another and how it is received. And how you deal with differences between you, including discrepancies in sexual desire.

"I really appreciated the way that Katrina did not side with either of us, and never blamed anyone, but stayed fully focussed on "the relationship" as her client."

Counselling for family relationships -  I also successfully support adult family members who are having difficulty getting along with each other, eg a parent and grown up child.

"Katrina helped us during a crisis in our relationship.  She created a safe space for us to open up and express ourselves, encouraging us to understand the impact of the communication between us and the deeper meanings.  We’re very grateful to have had such an experienced and creative therapist help us through our difficulties."  Gill and Peter, mother and adult son

Relationships don't happen in a bubble. Both parties bring hopes and fears of what a relationship can be, perhaps learnt from families of origin or from previous relationships. Changing circumstances and the demands of children, in-laws, health, home, culture and career can all strengthen or weaken a relationship. We can look at how a relationship can respond strongly and flexibly to these factors too.

I am so glad we stuck with it because we have been closer than ever and communicate so much more helpfully.  What doesn't break you really does make you stronger!"

Good relationships needs attention and time - which is often freely given at the "falling-in-love" stage. Couples counselling can help you build that foundation of loving attention and time back into your relationship, so that it can thrive and flourish long after your couples counselling has ended. 

"We stayed together!  It surprised many of our friends who really thought we wouldn't make it through.  We are now 5 years on and going strong."

Discernment Counselling - this is a short term process of one to five sessions where couples on brink of divorce can decide whether they want to try and solve their problems, or to carry on as they are, or to divorce. 

If you are clear that they do not want to rebuild the relationship, then you can use couples counselling to look at what contributed to the relationship breakdown (so you are less likely to repeat the pattern in your future relationships) and/or to improve your relating enough to ease communication about any shared children and to achieve a non-combative separation.  

"Katrina helped us to really talk honestly with each other.  I got to say what I needed to say without it destroying us!"