Relationship Counseling and Couples Therapy in Thornbury
Seeking support in your relationship, rebuilding trust, deepening understanding or intimacy?
We currently offer both telehealth and in-person sessions at our premises in Thornbury, Victoria.
People come to couples therapy for many reasons.
Maybe you and your partner:
Feel like you’ve lost that spark or have grown apart;
Have experienced a breakdown of trust and struggling to find each other again;
Are flying along well, but want to understand yourselves and each other better and develop robust strategies;
Are stuck and unsure about the future of your relationship;
Have been through some big changes or have a lot of stress in your lives;
Are trying to navigate infidelity or issues around trust;
Are in a non-monogamous relationship and wanting to develop clear agreements and practices together.
Of course, your relationship doesn’t need to be “on the rocks” before you consider couples counseling. Maybe you just feel like you could do with a tune-up or a reboot.
Creating room
for listening.
What is Couples Therapy?
Couples therapy, also known as marriage counseling or couples counseling, is a specialized form of therapy designed to help couples resolve conflicts, improve communication, and strengthen their relationship. It provides a safe and supportive environment where partners can address issues such as communication breakdowns, trust issues, intimacy problems, and differing expectations.
During couples therapy sessions, a trained therapist facilitates open and honest dialogue between partners, helping them explore their feelings, needs, and concerns. Therapists employ various techniques and interventions tailored to the unique dynamics of each couple, focusing on enhancing understanding, empathy, and problem-solving skills.
The goals of couples therapy often include rebuilding trust, fostering emotional intimacy, and developing healthier patterns of interaction. Through the therapeutic process, couples can gain insight into the underlying issues contributing to their conflicts and learn effective strategies for resolving them.
Couples therapy can benefit couples at any stage of their relationship, whether they are experiencing difficulties or simply seeking to enhance their connection and mutual understanding.
Who is it for?
Our therapists have experience supporting couples of all genders, sexualities, orientations, and dynamics, including but not limited to:
Couples who are dating or married;
Couples who are separating or divorcing;
Monogamous and non-monogamous couples;
Polyamorous relationships;
Inter-race and faith couples;
Straight and LGBTIQ+ couples
Former couples who want to work through their experience after a break-up.
Please note: We do not work with relationships where ongoing domestic violence is present. If you are in a relationship where ongoing violence is present, please reach out to Safe Steps on 1800 015 188 to speak to a specialist who can assist you directly.
By investing in couples therapy, partners can strengthen their bond, deepen their commitment, and cultivate a more fulfilling and satisfying relationship.
Treatment approaches:
Depending on the couple’s needs and preferences, as well as their own training and background, we draw on a range of evidence-based approaches including:
PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy)
Emotion Focused Therapy
Gottman Relationship Therapy
Schema Therapy
Attachment-based therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Affect Regulation Theory
Compassion-based therapy
Psychodynamic approaches
Trauma-informed care
Non-Violent Communication
What to expect:
Each couple is unique in their connection, their strengths, weaknesses, passions, interests, work, and life in general. Therefore our approach to each couple is collaborative. Each partner will have their time to discuss what has bought them to counseling.
The first session
The duration of all couples sessions is 80 minutes. In your first session, with your therapist, you will identify the challenges you are having, arrive at a collaborative goal together, and formulate a way forward. The amount of sessions required varies and this will be discussed in your first session. It is ultimately your choice as to how you would like to proceed with the sessions.
Book a free Discovery Call
Please note: We do not work with relationships where ongoing domestic violence is present. If you are in a relationship where ongoing violence is present, please reach out to Safe Steps on 1800 015 188 to speak to a specialist who can assist you directly.
Frequently asked questions.
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Research suggests that couples counselling can help couples improve their relationship satisfaction, communication skills, and problem-solving abilities. It can also help couples work through issues such as conflict resolution, infidelity, intimacy problems, and trust issues. To get the most out of couples counselling, both parties should come with open minds and a willingness to listen and grow.
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It typically takes 2-3 months before people begin to recognize noticeable improvements in their relationship. This time can vary depending on multiple factors, including; how long the two of you have been together, the severity of the challenges you’re facing, and the amount of effort you both put into making the relationship work, and others. When the challenges you’re facing are very challenging, it can take 1-2 years of continuous work to address the issues in a relationship. It’s common for people to begin with weekly sessions, and as they see improvement begin to taper off to fortnightly, and then monthly sessions.
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It can be common, and tough wanting to work on your relationship only to find that your partner isn’t interested. While many people are outrightly opposed to therapy of any kind, it might surprise you to learn that they might have good reasons. Often they feel they will be blamed, that it might make things worse, or that they'll be ganged up on by you and the therapist.
You could try to understand their reasoning and see if there is any reassurance that can be offered. If they still would prefer not, we encourage you to consider individual therapy to work on your relationship challenges. -
Whilst we believe the deepest therapeutic work can be done in person, each of our practitioners have set availabilities for Telehealth/online sessions.
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Unfortunately at this stage Medicare does not fund couples counselling. Hopefully this changes in the future.
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As a team of clinicians, pricing varies across our practitioners. An approximation of pricing is:
Couples Psychotherapy (80 minutes): $200 - $240
If your question is still not answered, or you would like to explore working with one of our practitioners, book a discovery call here.
