226 N. 4th Street, Ste. 204, Steubenville, OH 43952 | Teletherapy also available for Ohio and Florida residents
Couples Therapy
The subject changes, the fight doesn't. I offer therapy for the pattern underneath the arguments- the pattern that determines whether you and your partner feel like a team. When the pattern changes, the relationship changes with it.
In-person & Online Sessions: $150
Is your marriage no longer the safe haven it used to be?
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Do you and your partner feel like you just are not synced up?
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Does every attempt to resolve conflict lead to more blaming and defensiveness?
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Has a sense of roommate syndrome come over your relationship?
You might find yourself asking questions like:
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How did we get here?
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Did I marry the wrong person?
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Can we ever get our connection back?
Therapy can help couples create a Roadmap for Repair
Many couples come to therapy with the goal of reducing conflict. I take it a step further, focusing on deescalating tension while building a closer, deeper, and more secure romantic bond so you experience results that last. When your bond is secure, everything else falls into place. You can then communicate better and find solutions to problems around finances, sex, parenting, etc.
Here at Troy Fulford Therapy and Marriage Enrichment, my aim is to help you and your partner make sense of what has gotten you stuck and provide a roadmap for repairing your connection. My approach is very experiential - I am not here to teach you, but to help you tune into your hearts, get in touch with your needs, and practice communicating more authentically. This way, the healing process can be experienced and felt instead of just learned.
What To Expect In Couples Therapy Sessions
In the first session, I will meet with you and your partner together to get to know your story and goals before collaborating on a treatment plan. Next, I will have one-on-one sessions with each of you in order to ensure both partners are heard, understood, and confident going forward. After this, if you feel like my services and approach are a good fit for your goals, we'll resume meeting with both partners together for the remainder of the sessions.
I use Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the Gold Standard approach for couples counseling by the American Psychological Association. EFT seeks to help couples look beyond communication issues and get to the heart of what they really need in a relationship: to be seen, to be heard, to be understood, to be loved. Rather than focus on the content of the couples' argument, EFT focuses on how the couple disagrees.
EFT can help you connect with the wisdom of your body when it is reacting to the pain of disconnection. We want to honor the reasons that your body goes into “fight, flight, or freeze” mode with your partner, and help you take responsibility for how that impacts your relationship.
As we get clarity on the reasons for your disconnection, we'll go deeper and focus on what has fueled the pain between the two of you. This way, your old wounds can heal at the deepest level, and both of you can experience meaningful change by communicating from a softer, more authentic place.
By drawing on the evidence-based wisdom of EFT, we’re confident that we can help you and your significant other approach each other in a spirit of gentleness and understanding. Counseling can empower you to become the most potent source of healing with one another, giving you the tools to tackle relationship problems without outside support.
You May Have Some Questions About Marriage and Couples Counseling...
I do! It is inherently traumatizing to feel the foundation of your relationship crack, but we use a proven process of injury repair to help couples get stronger in broken places. Like a broken bone, I believe relationships can heal and get stronger in the broken places.
I help couples work vulnerably and effectively to create meaningful change even in the wake of vulnerability.
I believe no one is the "bad guy" in couples therapy. The bad guy is the negative cycle that happens between you, and that is something we can work on together. I want both of you to feel seen, heard, and appreciated.
You are allowed to be human here and you are allowed to be messy - I will accept you unconditionally and meet you exactly as you are.
Every couple is different and not all wounds heal at the same rate. For those who simply want a relationship tune-up, therapy may conclude after a few months. But for those looking for a deeper work, the healing process may take longer.
I are committed to working as efficiently as possible, and I will collaborate with you regarding the duration of treatment and my best recommendations for care.
You can still start. Some people begin on their own, working their own half of the pattern - which is one of the two things holding the cycle in place. It is not a substitute for couples therapy, and it is not a way to get someone else into it. It is real work with real effects.
Working on your own half
You can fall in LOVE all over again
If you and your significant other want to solve communication issues and renew your loving bond, I encourage you to pursue couples counseling and Book A Session. I look forward to hearing from you.