Couple & Relationship Therapy

What brings couples to therapy?

There is no single point at which a couple 'should' seek therapy. Some come during a crisis; others come because they recognise a pattern they do not want to continue.

·         Communication difficulties and recurring arguments

·         Feeling emotionally disconnected or more like housemates

·         Infidelity, affairs or other breaches of trust

·         Deciding whether and how to rebuild after betrayal

·         Fertility difficulties, fertility treatment, pregnancy loss and the strain these experiences can place on a relationship

·         Changes in sex, desire and physical or emotional intimacy

·         Parenthood and changes to the couple relationship after having children

·         Differences in parenting or co-parenting

·         ADHD, autism, neurodivergence and the impact of diagnosis

·         Illness, disability, grief and other major life changes

·         Work, financial or family pressures

·         Blended families

·         Separation, considering separation or uncertainty about whether to stay together

·         Wanting to strengthen a relationship before difficulties become entrenched

Infidelity & Rebuilding Trust

Discovering an affair or another significant breach of trust can fundamentally shake the sense of safety within a relationship.

There may be anger, grief, shock, intrusive questions and an urgent need to understand what happened. The partner who has been hurt may feel as though the story of their relationship has suddenly changed; the other partner may be carrying guilt, shame, confusion or fear about what happens next.

Therapy does not begin by assuming that a couple must stay together or separate. It creates a structured space in which the impact of what has happened can be acknowledged, difficult conversations can take place more safely and both people can begin to understand what would be required to move forward: together or apart.

Fertility & the Couple Relationship

Trying to conceive and going through fertility treatment can place extraordinary pressure on a relationship.

Sex can become scheduled or medicalised. Partners may cope very differently with uncertainty, disappointment or loss. One may want to talk while the other needs space. Decisions about treatment, money, work and when to stop can become emotionally charged.

Relationship therapy offers somewhere for the couple — not only the fertility journey — to receive attention.

Neurodivergent Couples

When one or both partners are neurodivergent, differences in communication, sensory experience, emotional processing, attention, executive functioning or the need for predictability can become interpreted personally.

A late diagnosis can be particularly significant. It can offer relief and understanding while also prompting couples to revisit years of conflict through a completely different lens.

The aim is not to decide whose way of experiencing the world is 'right'. It is to understand difference, reduce blame and develop ways of relating that work for the people actually in the relationship.

LGBTQ+ Relationships

I welcome LGBTQ+ couples and individuals. Therapy may include exploring identity, coming out, minority stress, family acceptance or rejection, different experiences of gender or sexuality within a relationship, intimacy, parenting, chosen family, or simply the same relationship difficulties that bring any couple to therapy. I aim not to make assumptions about gender, roles, bodies, sex or what a relationship 'should' look like.