Couples Counseling Services
Whether you call it marriage counseling, couples therapy or relationship counseling, what you're signing up for is inviting a collaborator-a couples therapist-into the life of your relationship to help you and your partner grow. My approach to therapy is about much more than just ‘reducing symptoms'—it is about helping you to identify what's not working in your life and then helping you to develop tools, strategies and understandings to shape your life and relationships in ways you can feel proud of and excited about.
You and your supervisor must submit documentation of completion of a supervised clinical experience of at least 1,500 client contact hours providing Marriage and Family Therapy in a setting acceptable to the Department in accordance with either A or B below.
Many New York couples have come to my office, not because they have spare time, but because they're scared if they don't, their misery will get worse, their relationship will end, or they'll end up staying in a very unhappy relationship for too long, or be stuck indefinitely.
Therapists may use or combine the following approaches: psychoanalysis, psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, relational therapy, interpersonal, humanistic, gestalt, attachment-focused therapy, art therapy, trauma resolution techniques as well as evidence-based therapies such as EMDR therapy, Somatic Experiencing (SE), Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT to name a few.
In addition to my practice, I am an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Postgraduate Program in Couple Therapy at Adelphi University and on the faculty of the Marriage Therapy Program at The Training Institute for Mental Health Marital Therapy Program in Manhattan.
If you are involved in non-consensual non-monogamy, and have no interest in working with your partner to understand where these choices and behaviors come from, how to change them, and how to heal these injuries prior to discussing the possibility of exploring an open relationship, you may not be ready for couples' therapy.
An entity defined as exempt from the licensing requirements or otherwise authorized under New York State law or the laws of the jurisdiction in which the entity is located to provide services that are within the scope of practice of Marriage and Family Therapy.
A master's or higher degree from a program in an allied mental health field acceptable to the Department (including but not limited to social work, psychology and mental health counseling) and additional graduate level coursework, if needed, determined by the Department to provide the substantial equivalent professional education of a licensure qualifying program in Marriage and Family Therapy.
What makes this different from psychotherapy is that the experience is limited, usually one or two sessions, sometimes more, and is not meant to replace ongoing therapy, therefore, a consultation is a proactive and preventative approach to getting help for navigating a crisis, transition or life-challenge.
People come to therapy for disturbed mood (such as anger, anxiety, panic and depression), family conflicts, behavioral disturbances teen therapy and acting out unhealthy behaviors, relationship conflicts, social problems, career issues, sex issues, anger management and more.
In good couples therapy, the question of whether or not both people in the relationship are committed to continue has to be discussed, however uncomfortable that may be. While a couples therapist won't tell you what to do, if there's uncertainty we can help explore the viability of the relationship as one that can meet everyone's needs in the present and down the line as a growthful , sustaining relationship.