Common Reasons Couples Seek Therapy
Couples seek support for many reasons, including:
- Frequent arguments or recurring conflict
- Growing emotional distance
- Feeling unheard, dismissed, or misunderstood
- Stress from parenting, careers, or life changes
- Differences in values, priorities, or communication styles
- Trust issues or insecurity
- Rebuilding after rupture or betrayal
- Sexual or emotional intimacy challenges
- Difficulty navigating transitions (moving, kids, finances, shifts in identity)
- Conflict around parenting or household responsibilities
- Feeling more like “roommates” than partners
How couples therapy can help your relationship
Couples therapy is not about deciding who is right or wrong. It’s about understanding the emotional needs, patterns, and communication habits that shape your dynamic.
Therapy can help you:
- Improve communication and reduce escalation
- Understand each other’s emotional worlds
- Build (or rebuild) trust and intimacy
- Break out of conflict cycles
- Strengthen connection and teamwork
- Repair past hurts with empathy and clarity
- Express needs and boundaries in healthier ways
- Feel more secure, supported, and understood
Evidence-based treatments we use
Our therapists draw from several trusted therapeutic approaches to support healing, clarity, and emotional wellbeing. Depending on your needs, your therapist may integrate:
Who couples therapy is for
Couples therapy is helpful for:
- Long-term partners
- Dating couples
- Engaged or pre-marital partners
- Married couples
- LGBTQIA+ couples
- Blended or multicultural relationships
- Couples navigating coming out, identity shifts, or transitions
- Relationships healing after conflict or rupture
Signs your relationship may benefit from therapy
Couples often reach out when they notice:
- Communication feels tense or strained
- Small disagreements turn into big arguments
- One or both partners feel alone in the relationship
- Affection or intimacy feels different than before
- Trust has been damaged
- You keep having the same fights in different forms
- You love each other, but something feels off
Our Clinicians
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #119129
Allison Winet fosters healing through authentic, compassionate, collaborative, and deeply human therapeutic connection.
Services:
- Couples counseling
- Family therapy
- Individual therapy (teens & adults)
- Parent support therapy
Specialties:
- LGBTQ+ concerns
- Life transitions
- Mother–daughter relationships
- Women’s concerns
Ages:
- Teens
- Adults
- Parents
- Couples
- Families
Approach:
- Client-centered
- Strength-based
- CBT
- Relational therapy
- Mindfulness
Licensed Clinical Social Worker #93160
Ally Silva empowers clients with warmth, honesty, confidence-building, and collaborative therapeutic support.
Services:
- Couples & relationship support
- Family therapy
- Gender-affirming support
- Individual therapy (teens, young adults, adults)
- In-office (CA) + virtual(CA & VT)
Specialties:
- Life transitions
- LGBTQIA+
- Relationship Issues (family, partners, friends)
Ages:
- Teens
- Young Adults
- Adults
Approach:
- Client-Centered
- Strengths-Based
- DBT
- EMDR
- CBT
- ACT
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #141543
Nick Tomasello supports teens’ growth with authenticity, warmth, inclusivity, and collaborative care.
Services:
- Parent support
- Virtual sessions (CA)
-
Individual therapy
(teens & young adults, ~15–24) - In-person sessions in Sacramento coming soon
Specialties:
- LGBTQ+ & TGNB Support
- Identity Exploration
- Depression & Anxiety
Ages:
- Teens
- Young Adults
Approach:
- Client-Centered
- CBT
- DBT
- Gender-affirming
- Mindfulness
Associate Marriage & Family Therapist #139638
Katie Ion offers affirming, warm, humorous therapy honoring identity exploration.
Services:
- Individual therapy (teens)
- Parent support
- Individual therapy (adults)
- In-person & virtual sessions
Specialties:
- Neurodivergence
- LGBTQIA+
- Anxiety & Depression
Ages:
- Teens
- Adults
Approach:
- Attachment-based
- Client-Centered
- DBT
- ACT
- CBT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #126512
Emily Perez supports teens with warmth, evidence-based care, and authenticity.
Services:
- In-person therapy
- Virtual therapy
- Teens • Young adults (18–26) • Adults
Specialties:
- Anxiety
- Life transitions
- Grief
Ages:
- Teens
- Young Adults
- Adults
Approach:
- Client-Centered
- CBT-Informed
- Evidence-Based
- Relational + Supportive
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #155014
Shannon Sparks empowers youth through warm, strengths-based, attuned therapeutic support.
Services:
- Individual therapy (pre-teens, teens, young adults)
- In-office + virtual sessions
Specialties:
- Anxiety
- Relationship Challenges
- Self-Esteem & Self-worth
Ages:
- Pre-Teens
- Teens
- Young Adults
Approach:
- ACT
- CBT
- DBT
- Attachment-based
- Client-Centered
- Strengths-Based
