Making the choice…
Every relationship has a spark—a spirit of connection, trust, and care—that can sometimes feel dimmed by life’s challenges.
Couples and relationship therapy provides a safe and supportive space to nurture that connection, rebuild understanding, and strengthen the bond—or to explore the choice to separate—with compassion and clarity, helping each person make decisions that honor their well-being in a protected and supportive environment.
Couples and Relationships
What We Offer
Every relationship faces its own rhythm, and life’s pressures—like ongoing conflict, communication struggles, past relational wounds, or major life changes—can weaken connection and trust. Research shows that evidence-based couples therapy can strengthen emotional understanding, improve communication, and support healthier, more satisfying partnerships. To better understand the research, check out O’Malley et al. (2023), Carr (2025), and Roddy et al (2020). Let us also recognize and appreciate that relationships come in all shapes and forms (Edwards et al. 2023, Gupta et al, 2023).
At our practice, we offer tailored couples therapy designed to meet your relationship where it is. We draw on approaches such as emotionally focused therapy (EFT), Gottman therapy, trauma-informed therapy, attachment-informed methods, cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness, somatic approaches, relational skill-building and more to support growth and change.
Our approach includes:
Understanding your relationship: Exploring patterns, strengths, and challenges to create a clear plan for therapy
Practical strategies: Building communication, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills
Guided support: Helping each partner express needs, navigate emotions, and make informed decisions about the relationship
A safe, collaborative space: Providing an environment where both partners feel heard, respected, and supported
Sessions are flexible in length (prebooked) and frequency, designed to fit your goals and circumstances. Therapy can focus on reconnecting and strengthening the relationship or exploring the choice to separate with clarity and compassion. We respect the structure of your partnership or partnerships.
Through evidence-based strategies and individualized care, we aim to help couples foster deeper connection, rebuild trust, and cultivate resilience—whether your goal is growth together or moving forward separately.
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Major life transitions can place unexpected stress on even the healthiest relationships. Events such as welcoming a new baby, losing a loved one, job changes or financial strain, relocation, illness, or shifts in family roles can disrupt communication, intimacy, and emotional connection.
Couples therapy offers a supportive space to navigate these changes together. Through guided conversations, partners can better understand one another’s experiences, manage conflict, and develop tools to adapt as a team. Therapy helps couples process grief, adjust expectations, strengthen communication, and reconnect during times of uncertainty.
Whether you are facing a specific transition or feeling the cumulative weight of multiple changes, couples therapy can help you move forward with resilience, clarity, and renewed connection.
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Over time, many couples find themselves feeling distant, stuck in routine, or disconnected from the relationship they once shared. Busy schedules, unresolved tensions, unmet needs, or years of small misunderstandings can slowly erode emotional closeness—even when love is still present.
Couples therapy creates space to pause, reflect, and intentionally reconnect. Rather than focusing only on problems, this work emphasizes understanding, emotional attunement, and rediscovering what brings you together. Partners learn to express needs more clearly, listen with greater empathy, and rebuild trust and intimacy in ways that feel authentic and sustainable.
Whether your relationship feels strained or simply in need of renewal, therapy can help you strengthen your bond, deepen connection, and move forward with greater awareness and confidence—together.
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Experiences of trauma, grief, and loss can profoundly affect both individuals and the relationship they share. The impact may show up as emotional withdrawal, heightened conflict, changes in intimacy, or feeling misunderstood by the person you love most. Even when partners care deeply for one another, pain can create distance.
Couples therapy offers a compassionate setting to process these experiences together rather than alone. Therapy helps partners make sense of how trauma or loss is affecting each person differently, while fostering patience, safety, and mutual support. Through this work, couples can learn how to talk about difficult emotions, reduce isolation, and strengthen their ability to face pain as a team.
Healing does not mean forgetting or “moving on.” Instead, therapy supports couples in integrating loss, honoring resilience, and rebuilding connection in ways that feel meaningful and supportive for both partners.
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Family relationships can be layered, emotionally charged, and difficult to navigate—especially when extended family, blended households, cultural expectations, or differing boundaries begin to affect your partnership. Disagreements about parenting, in-laws, loyalty, or family roles can place ongoing strain on a couple’s connection.
Couples therapy provides a neutral space to explore how family dynamics influence your relationship and decision-making. Together, partners can clarify shared values, strengthen boundaries, and develop strategies for addressing family-related stress without turning against one another. Therapy supports open dialogue, mutual respect, and alignment as a couple—even when external pressures are strong.
Whether you are navigating blended families, generational differences, or ongoing family conflict, therapy can help you build a united partnership while honoring the complexities of family relationships.
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When a relationship reaches a crossroads, couples may feel overwhelmed by uncertainty, grief, anger, or fear about what comes next. Separation and divorce are deeply personal processes that can bring up intense emotions, difficult conversations, and concerns about children, finances, and the future.
Couples therapy can serve as a structured, supportive environment to navigate this transition with clarity and respect. Whether partners are discerning next steps, working toward an amicable separation, or processing the emotional impact of ending a relationship, therapy helps create space for honest dialogue and thoughtful decision-making. The focus is on reducing conflict, improving communication, and supporting emotional well-being during a challenging time.
Even when a relationship is changing form, therapy can help partners move forward with greater understanding, dignity, and intention.
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Not every challenge in a relationship fits neatly into a single category. Couples may seek therapy for concerns such as communication breakdowns, trust issues, intimacy or sexual concerns, infidelity, differences in values, cultural or identity-related stressors, substance use, mental health impacts, or navigating long-standing patterns of conflict.
Couples therapy offers a collaborative space to explore these issues with openness and care. Rather than assigning blame, therapy focuses on understanding what is happening beneath the surface and how each partner contributes to the dynamic. This process helps couples develop insight, practical skills, and new ways of relating that support healthier, more satisfying connections.
Whether your concerns feel clearly defined or hard to put into words, therapy can help bring clarity, growth, and meaningful change to your relationship.
Couples and Relationships
Our Process
Plan with Purpose
Contact us to find the therapist who is the best fit for your needs.
Our administrative team can help match you with the right therapist and schedule your appointments.
Call: (613) 600-5322
Email: admin@mycounselling.ca
Self-serve: https://serenewoods.janeapp.com/
Collaborate Openly
Each partner will participate in a 50- or 80-minute individual therapy session with the therapist, providing relevant background and sharing information openly and honestly.
Some couples may benefit from more than one individual session per partner before beginning joint sessions. Your therapist will discuss this with you as they get to know your story and understand your needs.
Build Engagement
Once everyone is ready, all partners will come together for couples therapy (50 - 110 min). The therapist will guide you in identifying shared therapeutic goals and exploring supports for short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes as needed.
Each partner will have the space to share their perspective, express emotions, and explore potential solutions in a safe and supportive environment.
Watch the Development
The number of sessions you and your partner need will depend on your goals, challenges, and progress. Meaningful change takes commitment, practice, and making your relationship a priority.
Your therapist will guide you through difficult conversations and help you navigate challenges with care and clarity. With willingness and support, you can work through obstacles, strengthen your connection, and build a healthier, more resilient partnership.
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
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