{"id":86,"date":"2014-09-08T16:38:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T16:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/?page_id=86"},"modified":"2026-05-25T16:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T16:02:18","slug":"couples","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/?page_id=86","title":{"rendered":"Couples Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I take a cooperative and strength-based approach to couples work, focused on mutual understanding, diffusion of blame and finding positive outcomes. I particularly incorporate personality and emotion-based perspectives into therapy. After our joint first session, I will meet with you individually to identify personal perspectives and goals before our next session together. With this perspective, we can identify sources of conflict, misunderstandings and the emotional base for relationship issues. We will also discuss the different therapeutic approaches we can use and chose a direction and process:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Creating a \u2018safe\u2019 environment for disclosure of vulnerabilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Facilitating calm, thoughtful and reflective communication to ensure everyone understands what is being said and meant.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Identifying the format and process of your interactive cycles of conflict and responses to stress as a target for behavioral change.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Restructuring power dynamics and boundaries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Identifying specific problems and developing practical solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Finding commonality when faced with different styles to address shared problems:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">o Parenting styles<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">o Child discipline<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">o Budgeting<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">o Leisure<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Developing empathy and the emotional understanding of each other.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Creating communication and resolution for couples who have \u2018given up on each other\u2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Using personality strengths and adaptation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Where necessary, developing positive paths forward to separation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1><strong>An Additional Approach<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many couples find themselves stuck in a win-lose pattern, where each partner is fighting to be right or to get their way. This approach perpetuates conflict rather than resolves it. I help couples move beyond this destructive dynamic by generating what I call the <strong>&#8220;Third Pole&#8217;<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014an alternative goal or solution that honors both partners&#8217; needs and concerns but is a reasonable alternative. Instead of one person winning while the other loses, we work together to find new options that allow both of you to feel heard, valued, and satisfied.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effective treatment can help you feel calmer, more confident, and more in control of your life. I invite you to reach out to discuss how we can work together toward the relief you&#8217;re seeking. Phone: 410-970-4917; Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:edgewaterpsychotherapy@gmail.com\">edgewaterpsychotherapy@gmail.com<\/a>; I look forward to hearing from you and helping you on your journey toward greater peace and wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Links to Family, Children and Adolescent Problems<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Problems can develop between parents as a couples. The hard truth is that many children\u2019s and adolescent\u2019s problems are linked to conflicts between parents. Research demonstrates that include oppositional-defiant behaviors, disrespectful attitudes, truancy, school performance deficits, mood disorders, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-harm and eating disorders \u2013 all associated with subsequent problems as adults. Our children our very observant \u2013 your conflicts are readily evident to them. But because of their maturity, verbal expression skills and coping skills adolescents and children \u2018act-out\u2019, rather than express them appropriately. Consequently, kids become \u2018pathologized\u2019 and little progress in their therapy reflects the persistence of parental conflicts. So, sometimes the treatment of children and adolescents involves work on parents\u2019 relationship. I\u2019d like to help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I take a cooperative and strength-based approach to couples work, focused on mutual understanding, diffusion of blame and finding positive outcomes. I particularly incorporate personality and emotion-based perspectives into therapy. After our joint first session, I will meet with you individually to identify personal perspectives and goals before our next &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/?page_id=86\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-86","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86\/revisions\/1186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edgewaterpsychotherapy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}