Couples Therapy
Helping you connect to the most important person in your life
If your conversations keep turning into the same exhausting fight—or polite silence has settled in where closeness used to be—couples therapy offers a path back to each other. As an Emotionally Focused (EFT) therapist here in Murray, I help couples across the Salt Lake Valley step out of reactive cycles, rebuild emotional safety, and feel like genuine partners again.
You may have arrived here because…
Your romantic life is on auto-pilot or nonexistent. Between work and kids, both of you are too exhausted for romance.
You walk on eggshells around each other, or have to avoid certain topics to keep the peace.
If it weren’t for the kids, you wonder if there would be anything keeping you together.
The connection is gone, and you crave that feeling of being a team again.
Overall, the marriage is OK, but there are certain issues that come up over and over and never get resolved.
If any of these apply to you, I’m glad you’re here. Read on to see if my couples counseling services might be helpful for you.
You may doubt that the bond between you can be restored.
How many times has the following scenario played out? You try to talk to your partner about something important. Your partner gets defensive and either turns it back on you, or simply shuts you out. You try again to get your point across, but the more you try, the more defensive or withdrawn your partner becomes.
It leaves you feeling alone and unimportant. It leaves your partner feeling like no matter what they do it’s not good enough, like they just can’t ever make you happy. You both end up frustrated.
And now you're both on high alert, so that even when you are being calm and reasonable, your partner still shuts down. Or when your partner does try to show you that they care, it’s hard to give them credit. As this continues to happen, trust and intimacy slowly fade and are replaced with hostility and, eventually, resignation.
Perhaps most of the time you’re able to keep the peace.
Maybe you co-parent well and have found fulfillment through work, friends, or being a parent. And yet, you crave that feeling of partnership, of being able to let your partner in, of feeling truly valued and accepted. After a while, you might wonder if the two of you are still, or ever were, compatible. At times you may even think, “Will I always be alone? Am I just not worthy of love?”
I’m here to tell you that you are worthy of love, and that compatibility is likely not the issue. The real problem is that you and your partner don’t know how to communicate from the heart in a way that the other can take in.
This leads to miscommunication, which erodes the trust you have for each other and causes each of you to put up walls, which leads to more miscommunication. You end up trapped in a destructive cycle that leaves you both exhausted, frustrated, and hopeless.
As a therapist, my job is not to be a referee or take sides.
Rather, I’ll help you understand how this cycle shows up in your relationship so that you can both step out of it. I’ll then guide you, in session, to send clear signals to your partner, and to understand the real message your partner is trying to send you. I’ll guide you to speak to your partner in a way that they can understand, and will make them want to listen to you.
You’ll have a felt sense of togetherness, and then you can take home what you’ve learned and practice together.
Over time, you can repair the trust that has been lost, learn to navigate difficult conversations, and achieve higher levels of intimacy than you’ve had before. You’ll feel like your partner deeply knows and appreciates you, and that they want to meet your needs. You’ll trust that as you journey through life together, you’ll be by each other’s side, supporting one another.
The quality of your partnership is perhaps the biggest factor in your overall wellbeing, so it’s worth it to invest in this part of your life.
Frequently Asked Questions About Couples Counseling
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I use Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which is considered the gold-standard model in couples therapy. Unlike traditional approaches that simply teach scripted communication techniques—which tend to collapse the moment an argument gets heated—EFT targets the underlying cycle of fear and disconnection driving the fight.
Grounded in attachment science, clinical research shows that 70% to 75% of couples who complete EFT fully recover from distress. Instead of serving as a referee, I help you create genuine emotional safety in the room, repairing trust and transforming the way you bond.
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I’ve been practicing therapy since 2020, and working with couples has always been central to what I do. Because I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), my training has always centered around relationship dynamics. I’ve completed not only the standard EFT training, but also advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and I still consult regularly with some of the best EFT trainers internationally. Relationship work is complex and messy, and I stay actively mentored because I want to make sure I'm continually improving and bringing my absolute best to every couple I work with.
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Yes. High-conflict dynamics require clear, active structure so sessions don’t simply devolve into expensive arguments. Rather than acting as a referee or taking sides, my role is to de-escalate tension, keep our time focused, and ensure both of you feel genuinely heard and valued. This is where Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) excels: we map out the reactive cycle fueling your fights, giving you a practical way to step out of defensiveness and communicate safely.
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It always saddens me when I hear that past therapy has left people feeling blamed, misunderstood, or stuck. Couples counseling is delicate work that requires specialized, dedicated training in a scientifically proven model. Without this, couples therapy can end up feeling aimless or combative. My extensive training in EFT, the gold standard couples therapy model, helps me ensure that both partners feel equally valued and supported while keeping every session focused on meaningful progress.
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Yes. Mismatched desire or intimacy challenges are incredibly common, and it almost always reflects the emotional state of the relationship. When there is not enough emotional safety, sex can start to feel like pressure or an obligation for one partner, and a painful rejection for the other. Additionally, simply talking about sex - what’s working, what’s not working, what feels good, what doesn’t - can feel incredibly awkward or vulnerable. In therapy, we rebuild your emotional bond first, and then we normalize collaborative discussions about physical intimacy, allowing it to become a safe, pressure-free, and deeply fulfilling connection for both of you.
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That hesitation usually comes from two very reasonable fears:
The fear of being blamed or ganged up on. Pop culture often portrays couples therapy as a courtroom where a therapist acts like a judge, pointing fingers or taking one partner's side. That is not how I work. My role is never to decide who is "right" or make anyone the bad guy. My client is the relationship itself, and I make sure both of you feel respected, heard, and validated.
The belief that needing help means you've failed. We expect ourselves to instinctively know how to build a lifelong partnership, yet most of us were never taught the skills needed to navigate emotional intimacy or resolve deep-seated conflict. Seeking therapy isn't a sign of failure; it’s simply bringing in an expert when a relationship hits a road bump you haven't been equipped to solve on your own.
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Yes. A quiet relationship can be just as lonely as a high-conflict one. Often, when big blow-ups are rare, couples have simply traded fighting for emotional distance—falling into "roommate mode" where you're polite, functional co-parents or roommates, but no longer feel close.
We are wired for deep, safe connection, and when that intimacy is missing, you feel that quiet ache. Couples therapy isn’t just for putting out fires; it’s about breaking out of that polite freeze, learning how to let your walls down, and turning a functional partnership into a deeply fulfilling, romantic relationship.
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This is extremely common. In fact, most couples I work with navigate one or more of these challenges. Neurodivergence, anxiety, depression, and past trauma can shape how each partner regulates stress, communicates, and experiences connection. Without a clear understanding, these differences can easily trigger misunderstandings and defensive habits. In therapy, we map out how your individual nervous systems interact, so you can work as a team with genuine understanding. If additional support would be helpful, I can provide referrals to individual therapists while we continue to work on strengthening your relationship.
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Yes. People often worry that doing therapy through a screen will feel awkward or disconnected, but research and experience show that virtual couples counseling is just as effective as meeting in person. Although it does feel nicer to meet face to face, sometimes it just isn’t feasible due to distance or work or kids schedules. Fortunately, as long as the two of you have a quiet, private room and a reliable internet connection, we can do the same deep, transformative work virtually.
Reviewed and updated: October 2026
Ready to take the next step?
Schedule a free, 15-minute in-person or video consultation. We’ll talk through what you’re currently dealing with, discuss what you want to change, and make sure you feel completely comfortable with my approach before moving forward. There is zero pressure to commit—just an honest conversation to see if we're the right fit.