Online across Michigan
Couples Therapy in Michigan
Practical help for couples who want to understand the pattern they are in and build a better way through it together.
Request a couples therapy fit call
When your relationship needs attention
Get help before the same hard moments become the whole story.
Couples usually reach out after they have already tried to fix things on their own. You may have talked for hours, promised to do better, avoided difficult subjects, or waited for a stressful season to pass. Yet the same argument, distance, resentment, or loneliness keeps finding its way back into the relationship.
Couples therapy gives you a place to look at the pattern beneath those moments. It is not about deciding who is right or putting one person on trial. It is about understanding what happens between you when either of you feels hurt, unheard, overwhelmed, or alone, then practicing a more useful response together.
I work exclusively with couples and provide secure online sessions to adults throughout Michigan. You can meet from a private place that works for both of you, without adding a long drive to a week that may already feel overfull.
You do not need a perfect explanation for why the relationship is struggling. Some couples arrive with one immediate concern, such as recurring conflict, a loss of closeness, or broken trust. Others simply know that they miss feeling like a team. The first part of the work helps you put clear language to what each of you is living with and decide what needs attention first.
A useful place to begin
Couples therapy may help when you are:
- Having versions of the same argument without getting to a real resolution.
- Feeling more like roommates, opponents, or strangers than partners.
- Stuck in criticism, defensiveness, withdrawal, or long stretches of silence.
- Trying to talk about intimacy, money, parenting, family, trust, or the future without another fight taking over.
- Recovering from secrecy, an affair, or a loss of trust that has changed how safe the relationship feels.
- Wanting a relationship that feels calmer, closer, and more workable in daily life.
Focused, practical work
Sometimes the first step is to stop talking about the problem.
Most people go to couples therapy thinking the therapist is going to have them talk through their problems. Although this will definitely happen at some point, I frequently have to begin by asking couples to stop trying to discuss their issues.
It is not usually that they are not trying their best. It is not that they do not genuinely desire to fix their issues. It isn’t that talking is unnecessary.
The problem is that talking unskillfully does more damage to a relationship than not talking at all. This does not mean forever, of course, but couples need to understand that their best attempts to talk about their issues are often the root of their hurts, frustrations, resentments, and distance.
So many of the negative feelings they are carrying toward each other have often grown in a petri dish of unskillfulness. Again, it is often well-intentioned, and as you will learn in therapy with me, the lack of skill is often no one’s fault. But you are reading this now because the consequences of unskillful conversation are real.
As they have tried discussing their problems, one or both partners have not felt heard. Often, both have felt criticized. Frequently, both partners feel they are trying but do not see that the other person is trying too.
Subtly or overtly, both partners think they may be a little at fault, but that the other person is primarily responsible for the issues. These are a few examples of why their conversation is gridlocked and why, despite the best of intentions, more conversation is the last thing they need until they can talk more skillfully.
My approach is Gottman-informed and teaching-led. That means the work is structured around understanding your relationship, practicing skills that fit the two of you, and carrying those skills into the conversations you have at home. We may work on bringing up a concern without blame, listening without preparing a defense, taking a useful break from a flooded argument, repairing after a misstep, and making more room for friendship and connection.
Learn about my Gottman-informed approach →What progress can look like
Better conversations begin with smaller, steadier shifts.
Progress is rarely one dramatic conversation that fixes everything. More often, it starts with changes that make hard moments less frightening and less destructive. A difficult subject stays on one topic. A request sounds less like criticism. A pause feels like a way to protect the conversation instead of a way to abandon it.
Those changes matter because they make room for trust. As you begin to see that the relationship can respond differently under pressure, it becomes easier to bring concerns forward before they turn into resentment or distance.
Name what is underneath the fight
Many arguments begin with a practical complaint but are really about feeling dismissed, unimportant, alone, or overwhelmed. Learning to name the deeper concern gives your partner something clearer to understand and respond to.
Recover after a hard moment
Every couple misunderstands one another. The difference is whether you can recognize when a conversation has gone off course, pause before it becomes cruel, and return with more honesty and care.
Make room for connection again
Working on conflict matters, but a relationship also needs positive experiences. We can focus on the everyday habits that help you feel known, supported, appreciated, and more like partners than opponents.
Care that fits your lives
Online sessions for couples across Michigan.
Online therapy can make it easier to protect time for your relationship. You can meet from home, a private office, or another quiet place in Michigan without planning around a long commute. Many couples find that once they settle into the format, they can focus on the work and return to their day with less disruption.
You will need reliable Wi-Fi, a private space, and a device with a camera and microphone. A computer or tablet is usually easiest when I am sharing something on screen. Both partners need to be physically in Michigan at the time of the session.
Choosing the right path
Start with the kind of support that fits this moment.
When both of you want to work on the relationship
Couples therapy is a strong fit when you both want to repair and strengthen the relationship, even if you feel discouraged or do not agree about every problem yet.
When betrayal is the immediate concern
If you are trying to find a way forward after an affair, infidelity counseling in Michigan offers focused support for the questions, boundaries, and trust repair that follow betrayal.
When one partner is unsure about staying
If one person is leaning out of the relationship or cannot honestly commit to repair yet, discernment counseling gives you space to reach a clearer decision without pressure.
Frequently asked questions
Is couples therapy the same as marriage counseling?
The terms are often used interchangeably. The work focuses on the relationship between you, including communication, conflict, friendship, trust, and the patterns that leave both of you feeling stuck.
Do we have to be married to begin couples therapy?
No. I work with committed couples at different stages of their relationship. If you are engaged and want structured preparation for marriage, premarital counseling may be the better fit.
Can we meet online from anywhere in Michigan?
Yes. Sessions are held by secure video for clients who are physically in Michigan. You will need a reliable internet connection, a private place to talk, and a device with a camera and microphone.
What if one of us is unsure about staying in the relationship?
Couples therapy is most useful when both people want to try to repair the relationship. When one partner is unsure, discernment counseling offers a more honest place to sort through that decision.
How do the first sessions work?
The first three couples therapy sessions are 90 minutes. They create a clear picture of your relationship, your goals, and the patterns that need attention before ongoing weekly work begins.
Your next step
Start with a conversation about your relationship.
A free fit call gives you a chance to ask questions, describe what is happening, and decide whether working together feels like the right next step.