Marriage & Couples Therapy
in Austin, TX
Marriage & Couples Counseling for Reconnecting as Partners
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor (LMFT-S) and Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S) in Texas, I bring a compassionate, present-centered, and holistic approach to marriage and couples therapy. Together, you and your partner can move beyond blame, repeated arguments, and trying to change each other. If you are looking for a marriage therapist in Austin, TX, I offer in-person marriage counseling and couples therapy near West Lake Hills, as well as online counseling across Texas. In our work together, you can learn more about yourself, strengthen communication skills, and begin to see your marriage or relationship in a different light. This does not mean accepting harmful behavior. Unhealthy or damaging patterns still need to be addressed and changed.
How I Can Help Your Relationship
Couples come to me for many different reasons. I can help you with:
- Communication Breakdown: Moving away from constant arguing, defensive cycles, or the silent treatment, toward more constructive dialogue.
- Infidelity & Betrayal Recovery: Rebuilding trust, transparency, and safety after an emotional or physical affair. My Infidelity & Affair Recovery page goes into more depth on this specific process.
- Loss of Intimacy & Connection: Moving away from feeling like “roommates” and reviving physical and emotional closeness. If pornography use is part of the distance, my post on porn addiction and marriage outlines five steps couples can take together.
- Major Life Transitions: Navigating the stress of a new baby, an empty nest, a career change, or other major shifts together.
- Conflict Resolution: Working through recurring fights about money, household responsibilities, or mismatched boundaries.
- Blended Families & Parenting: Learning to parent as a cohesive team and align on household rules and discipline. My Family Therapy & Parenting page can also help if you want more focused support here.
Modern Marriage: Individualism Meets Partnership
In recent decades, I’ve seen an upsurge of divorce, unhappy marriages, and people who won’t fully commit to a relationship. Psychology trends in the 1960s and ’70s shifted toward a more individualistic view, while much of our cultural thinking about marriage stayed rooted in the 1950s, when marriage was often seen as a partnership requiring full commitment without much room for individual needs.
I believe relationships today need a different lens — one that’s in harmony with individualistic psychology, not opposed to it. A healthy relationship requires respect for you as an individual while still contributing to the health of your marriage. That’s the outlook I bring into our work together.
Navigating the Non-Negotiables in Relationships
Research suggests that only about 30% of issues in a relationship are actually resolvable, with the remaining 70% rooted in differences between partners that aren’t likely to go away. I call these differences “non-negotiables” — they’re personality and character traits, not behaviors to fix. Trying to change these traits in your partner usually just creates unhappiness and resentment.
It’s important to distinguish between these inherent traits and harmful or unacceptable behaviors that do need to change. My approach helps you address and change harmful behaviors while still respecting and accepting each other’s core characteristics.
My Approach to Marriage and Couples Therapy
Marriage and couples therapy isn’t about finding fault — it’s about learning to work as a team again.
Holistic & Integrative Therapy
I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to couples therapy. I draw from different therapeutic methods and perspectives, including the Gottman Method, Relational Life Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and other approaches, tailoring our work to the needs of you and your relationship.
Together, we look at the bigger picture — what is happening between you now, what may be influencing your patterns of interaction, and what approaches are most likely to help. The goal is to create meaningful change that fits your relationship and can continue to grow beyond our sessions.
Building a New Perspective
Trying to change your partner’s core personality or character traits is usually futile — but if harmful or toxic behaviors are present, that’s different, and we’ll work together to address and change them. By learning new coping and communication skills, and by respecting each other’s individuality rather than trying to reshape it, you and your partner can build a new, more constructive perspective on your relationship.
Self-Awareness
Meaningful change often starts with understanding yourself — your emotions, triggers, and behavior patterns. I’ll help you and your partner develop greater self-awareness, which can be an important first step toward lasting change in how you relate to each other. If jealousy is one of the feelings that keeps coming up, my blog post on how to deal with jealousy in a relationship is a good place to start.
Effective Communication
I’ll teach you and your partner practical communication skills — active listening, expressing your needs without blame, and working through conflict constructively — so difficult conversations start to feel more productive and less like a repeat of the same old fight. For everyday habits that keep a marriage strong between sessions, see my blog post on how to strengthen your marriage.
Collaborative Problem Solving
I’ll give you the tools to work through conflicts together as a team, so you both feel heard and valued rather than like you’re on opposing sides. This is where much of the practical, empowering work happens — developing skills you can continue using long after our sessions end.
Emotional Connection
I’ll guide you and your partner in rebuilding emotional intimacy and trust, working toward a deeper, more meaningful connection. Many couples begin to experience relief as they develop new ways of relating to each other, while deeper, more transformative changes continue to build over time. If you’d like a place to start, my blog post on how to rebuild trust in a relationship walks through practical steps for both partners.
If a breach of trust is at the center of what you’re working through, my Infidelity & Affair Recovery page goes into more depth on that specific process. If you’re engaged and want to build a strong foundation before the wedding, Premarital Counseling may be the better starting point. You’re also welcome to learn more about my background on my About page.
What to Expect
The Initial Assessment
In our first few sessions together, I’ll get a clear picture of what’s going on in your relationship — your history, your goals, and the specific patterns you’d like to change. This gives us a shared starting point and helps me understand how best to support you both.
Individual Sessions
At some point early on, I’ll typically meet with each of you separately, one time, to hear more about your individual history and perspective. This isn’t about taking sides — it’s about getting a fuller picture so I can support your relationship more effectively.
Building a Treatment Plan
From there, we’ll work together to set clear, transparent goals for what you want out of therapy. I’ll check in with you regularly to make sure we’re still working toward what matters most to you as a couple.
Staying Neutral
A common question couples have is whether I’ll take sides. I won’t — my role is to help both of you feel heard and work collaboratively toward solutions that work for your relationship, not to referee or assign blame.
Marriage & Couples Therapy in Austin and Across Texas
I offer in-person marriage and couples therapy in Austin and West Lake Hills, as well as online couples counseling across Texas. My office is located at 1010 Land Creek Cove, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78746, near West Lake Hills, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Tarrytown, and surrounding communities.
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In-person counseling in the Austin area. Online counseling across Texas.
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Testimonials
frequently asked questions
If you’re in a long-distance relationship, I can offer a supportive space to navigate the unique challenges of staying emotionally connected, communicating well, and maintaining intimacy across distance. I can also help you set and work toward shared goals and manage how physical separation affects your relationship.
I can help with a wide range of issues, including communication breakdowns, intimacy concerns, trust issues, and navigating major life transitions together.
That varies depending on your specific situation. Many couples meet weekly, and the overall process can range from a few weeks to several months depending on the complexity of what you’re working through.
While couples therapy focuses on the relationship, I may sometimes recommend individual sessions alongside our work together to explore personal growth or address issues affecting the partnership.
The right fit matters — you want a therapist who understands your specific dynamics and values. I offer a free 20-minute phone consultation before you commit to anything, so we can talk through what’s going on and you can get a feel for whether working together makes sense for you and your partner.
No — I work with any committed partnership, whether you’re married, engaged, dating, or cohabiting.
I remain neutral, helping both of you express your perspectives and work collaboratively toward solutions.
I adhere to strict confidentiality standards, so what we discuss in session stays private, unless there’s a risk of harm.
Open communication helps here. Share how you’re feeling and the potential benefits, and consider suggesting an initial session together just to explore the process — no pressure to commit beyond that.
Therapy can be genuinely helpful for addressing underlying issues and rebuilding a relationship, but it depends a lot on both partners’ commitment and effort.
Cultural and religious differences can have a real impact on a relationship. I provide a safe space to explore these differences, navigate related conflicts, and develop strategies that honor and respect both of your backgrounds while nurturing a harmonious relationship.
In certain situations, yes — including children or other family members can be helpful, especially when addressing family-wide issues or transitions. I can help facilitate constructive discussions that promote understanding, empathy, and mutual support.
Yes. I can help create space for constructive dialogue about finances, along with practical strategies and an honest look at the emotional factors that often drive financial conflict, so you can build a more unified approach together.
I can help foster empathy, understanding, and effective communication around this. We can talk through caregiving dynamics, boundary setting, and ways to support each other while navigating the impact of mental health on your relationship.
I do not accept insurance assignments but will be glad to provide you with the correct paperwork for out-of-network reimbursement submission. Please contact your insurance carrier directly to check your mental health benefits, session coverage amount, and any pre-approval requirements.