Couples / Marriage
Couples Therapy
Couples therapy is for couples seeking to improve their relationship. Having a healthy relationship takes work. Couples therapy may not be easy, but making the choice to work on the relationship through therapy is one of the most significant things you may choose to do for healing the relationship. Studies indicate that partners will not seek therapy until they have been unhappy for an average of six years. The more time that has passed, the more difficult it becomes to repair the relationship. The more motivated and engaged the partners are, the more they are apt to make positive changes in the relationship through the therapy work.
Our therapists are trained to support the couple in their goals, focusing to improve the couple’s relationship and offer interventions that can help the partners to safely address their concerns and difficulties through the process of problem solving and healing. In couples counseling, the relationship is the focus, along with guiding each partner to focus on self-improvement, self-growth and self-awareness. In some cases, a couple will come into therapy after already deciding to separate in order to end the relationship amicably and respectfully.
Although there are many different therapy modalities to use in couple’s therapy, some of the modalities our therapists use include the following:
Imago Relationship therapy
Imago relationship therapy explores how we unconsciously choose partners who reflect back the very things we might benefit from working on ourselves. While working to expose unconscious components that helped you chose your mate, you learn how to be better equipped to relate to each other in positive, caring ways. The couple’s conflict is viewed as a solution to the situation rather than the problem. Exploring the conflict is the key to finding the solution.
Emotion-focused Therapy
Emotion-focused therapy encourages each partner to examine how communication styles or attachment experiences present themselves in interactions. The focus is to seek a secure tight bond between the partners, repositioning each partner’s stance during interactions and creating new and beneficial interaction in the partnership.
Gottman Therapy
Gottman method couple therapy has been around for 40 years with research and practice in clinical settings with thousands of couples. The Gottman Method uses couples counseling techniques to increase affection, closeness and respect and help manage conflict in a positive way. These techniques facilitate movement forward when couples are at an impasse. The partners learn how to better communicate, have empathy and understanding for one another and discuss situations calmly.
Divorce, Separation, Infidelity
Our therapists are trained to support people in relationships who may be considering separation or seeking to improve their relationship. In couples counseling, the relationship is the focus, along with guiding each partner to focus on self-improvement, self-growth and self-awareness. Therapists use a variety of modalities including Gottman, Imago Relationship, and Emotion-focused (see couples). We are prepared to help clients if separation or divorce is their decision. We also have tools you can utilize to help take care of your children through our Co-parenting Class or with individual or family therapy to help the children process their feelings.
Co-parenting Class
This course is a research-based educational course mandated by the state of Nebraska, derived from the Nebraska Parenting Act, to aid parents who are divorcing, separating or struggling with custody issues. This Nebraska mandated course offers parents the opportunity to educate themselves on how to keep their children safe, out of adult conflict and better adjust to the changes and challenges that come with divorce, separation and custody battles.
The goal of the Co-Parenting for Successful Kids Course is to develop respectful, responsive and responsible co-parents through a parallel-parenting model.
A second level Co-Parenting for Successful Kids Course is also offered for those parents who struggle with domestic violence, sexual assault or any form of abuse between parents. Parents must complete level one prior to completing level two. The three-hour level two course focuses on safety of both parents and children.