“Therapy can be the very best investment in a relationship because of its ability to interrupt the repetitions, hit the reset button and start anew.”
To say that relationships are important to our lives is an understatement. After all, every civilization was built upon our ability to maintain and cultivate them. Relationships take work. Hard work. And as it is with anything we deem worth working hard to achieve, relationship work can be profoundly rewarding. Yet we are often under-resourced when it comes to helping our relationships survive and thrive.
One look at a credit card statement or an Amazon order history and we can see at a glance just how much money we spend on relationships, directly or indirectly. From dining out, to gifts, to the technologies we depend on to stay connected, there are few things we do or own that aren’t in some way about furthering our relationships. And yet the relationship letdowns persist: the ways significant others fail us or even betray us, and we them.
We invest in education, in careers, and in our children’s activities (sports, dance, arts and music, social groups, test prep courses and travel), while leaving little time, thought, or financial resource for the specific cultivation of our closest relationships, despite the reality that relationship distress is one of the most universal and heartrending human experiences.
“Having to apologize, make adjustments, or ‘patch things up’ is not necessarily a sign of a bad fit. It’s a sign that people value one another, and are willing to work through the rough spots and stick together.”John Gottman
Therapy can interrupt that. It can hit the reset button and create space for new insight, new patterns, and genuinely different outcomes.
Our most intimate relationships are the cornerstones of our lives. Maintaining them through life’s many seasons and their accompanying challenges requires agility and adaptability. Be it between a teen and parent, an adult child and elderly parents, or committed couples, conflict is necessary and inevitable. At 1A Wellness we’re here to help you navigate it in order to move past the reasserting patterns that lead to regret and resignation, toward something that actually feels alive again.
What happens in couples therapy hereOur couples therapists draw from well-established approaches, including the Gottman Method, emotion-focused therapy, Internal Family Systems, and psychodynamic couples therapy. The approach may differ from one couple to another, but the goal is the same: to understand where the relationship gets stuck and create a clear path forward.
The work begins with a brief phone consultation and questionnaires from both partners before the first meeting. The first few sessions focus on understanding the relationship, the concerns bringing you in, and the patterns that take shape between you. It is also common to meet individually with each partner when that would add useful context.
From there, your therapist will share their understanding of what’s driving the challenges you are facing, and together you will agree on a focus for your work. You may also receive written feedback. Each session then builds from there, pairing practical changes with attention to the emotional and relational patterns that keep problems stuck.
Gottman Method, EFT, IFS, and psychodynamic couples therapy: what they are and how they work together.
Explore our approaches →Particular focus on premarital and early-marriage work, while also working with couples across the lifespan. Trained in Gottman, EFT, and Object Relations couples therapy, with postdoctoral training completed at Harvard Medical School. A former attorney, brings clarity, precision, and comfort with complexity to the work. Bilingual in English and Spanish.
Specializes in couples therapy grounded in intensive training in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), helping partners better understand their own reactions, strengthen connection, and shift entrenched relational patterns. Brings a strong background and particular ease to conversations about sex and intimacy. Works frequently with couples in their 20s and 30s and has extensive experience with LGBTQ+ and gender-diverse relationships.
Focuses on communication difficulties, repairing after conflict, intimacy, sexual connection, and parenting transitions. She is particularly skilled with patterns of avoidance or disconnection, including partners who hold back from difficult conversations out of fear of hurting each other. Trained in EFT and EMDR, she brings a strong understanding of how trauma and healing can shape our most intimate connections.
Focuses on couples in midlife navigating changing family roles, career shifts, aging parents, and other major transitions. Also experienced with intercultural and LGBTQ+ relationships, and certified through AANE in couples therapy for neurodivergent partnerships. Trauma-informed and integrates EFT, Gottman, and IFS, with training at Cambridge Health Alliance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a background spanning Cambridge University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Works with couples across the lifespan who are caught in painful emotional patterns but remain committed to each other. Brings advanced expertise in attachment-based, EFT, EMDR, and psychodynamic couples therapy, with particular attention to how earlier relational experiences shape emotional responses and our current patterns of connection. She serves on the faculty of the Psychodynamic Couples and Family Institute of New England.
Particular depth with long-term couples who still love each other but have lost the thread, including partnerships where one or both partners are analytical thinkers (such as scientists, people working in biotech, engineers, attorneys, and physicians). Her approach integrates Gottman Method, IFS, and psychodynamic couples therapy, and she is a certified couples therapist for neurodivergent partnerships through AANE. More than 25,000 hours of clinical experience.
The first step is just reaching out.You don’t have to have it figured out before you call.
In-person in Cambridge and Wenham · Teletherapy in MA, CT, NH, VT & FL
