Online Therapy in Chicago and Across Illinois

Relationship Counseling for students and working professionals

Restoring the connection you have with yourself and the important people in your life

Does it feel like no matter what you do, it’s hard to make relationships work?

Repeating the same relationship patterns, the disappointment, and the lack of excitement when it comes to dating. Let’s get to the heart of it.

Are you exhausted, jaded, or even feeling as if you are just “done” with relationships? Maybe you’ve been burned one too many times and are trying to find a way back. Perhaps even your busy lifestyle gets in the way of finding or maintaining a relationship. What’s worse is that meeting someone new is often tough and online dating is not always reliable.

Relationships can often add to our life or take away from it in a significant way. When you don’t have that connection or feel disengaged from the ones you love, everything can seem like it’s in a disarray. Sometimes it can be incredibly isolating and depressing. One thing is clear, you are ready to stop these destructive patterns and engage in something that’s real. You want to start connecting in a way that’s meaningful and healthy.

My approach to Relationship Counseling

IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS

Together we first will focus on what brought you into therapy. This can often include discussing the barriers you have towards finding or maintaining healthy relationships. For couple’s counseling, this will focus more on the system of the relationship more than the individual factors. Once your needs are discuss, we will then work on establishing goals for therapy.

PROCESSING THE PAST

In this stage, we will work on resolving the stuck emotions from the past. This can include resentment from past relationships, trust issues/betrayal trauma, divorce, guilt/codependency, or narcissistic abuse recovery to name a few. We can even talk about these other common relationship issues:

  • Friendships

  • Family Dynamics

  • Attachment Styles

  • Dating

  • Conflict Management

  • Workplace interactions

Building Communication Skills

While I might pull from a few different treatment methods, for relationship and communication skills building I primarily draw from the Gottman Method (see FAQ). Utilizing this method will help to cultivate healthy communication patterns, improve the foundation of friendship, manage conflict, and enhance intimacy in relationships. This therapy is effective both individual and marriage and family issues.

Relationship Counseling Can Help You….

  • Identify toxic vs healthy relationships

  • Learn about toxic forms of communication and their alternatives

  • Set healthy boundaries for yourself in relationships

  • Self-soothe intense emotions and enhance the relationship you have with yourself

  • The importance of engaging conflict in a healthy way vs avoiding it

  • Learn the key areas to consider when dating

  • Recover from relationship trauma

  • Build self-esteem and compassion

Frequently asked questions about relationship Counseling

  • Sessions are typically 50 minutes long. In the first session, we will discuss your background, presenting issues, and goals for therapy. From there, we will work together to implement a treatment plan around your personal goals.

  • The length of treatment depends on the individual and their presenting concerns. Some may find that there time in therapy is very short whereas others may need a longer term plan.

  • My primary focus is on relationship counseling with the individual, but I do see couple’s as well. In couple’s counseling, we work on the systemic issues of your marriage/relationship vs individual factors. If we establish a working relationship and you decide you’d like to do couple’s counseling, know that we cannot transition from individual to couple’s counseling. In these cases, I would make a referral so I can see you individually and someone else can attend to the couple’s counseling.

  • Click the link below to schedule an appointment or send me an email for further information

  • The Gottman Method is a research-based approach to couples therapy developed by Drs. John and Julie Schwartz Gottman. It is rooted in over 40 years of clinical research into relationships and marriage and family therapy. It focuses on enhancing relationships by improving communication, navigating conflict, and building emotional intimacy.