Couples counseling
When the same conflict keeps finding its way back.
Couples often arrive knowing the argument very well and understanding much less about the pattern underneath it.
How I work with couples
The pattern is the problem.
My aim is not to decide who is right. I am interested in what happens between you: where communication changes, what each person protects, what gets missed, and what makes it difficult to reconnect.
Most couples can describe the argument in detail. Far fewer can describe the seconds just before it, when one person felt something shift and responded to it. That moment is usually where the work is, and it is almost impossible to reach at full speed.
Both people get heard. Neither person is asked to accept the role of the one who needs to change.
Couples often come in around
- recurring conflict
- communication that stalls or escalates
- emotional distance
- transitions and changing roles
- different needs and different pacing
- rebuilding understanding after a rupture
- pressure from family or parenting
- ADHD within a relationship
Most couples know the argument by heart. The useful question is what happens in the moment just before it starts.
Session length
Why 90 minutes?
Couples sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes so there is enough room to slow the interaction down, hear both people, and work with the pattern without rushing the conversation.
An hour tends to be just long enough to open something difficult and not long enough to do anything useful with it. The extra half hour is what makes the difference.
90 minutes
$200
Couples session
Giancarlo Counseling is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance.