Relationship Counselling In Melbourne

Northcote | Essendon | Online (Australia-Wide)

Couples bring their unique histories and preconceived ideas about what relationships should be like. When conflicts persist or the relationship loses its vitality, couples therapy provides a valuable outside perspective.

Many couples struggle to address underlying issues and face communication breakdown, difficult transitions, parenting challenges, betrayals of trust, grief and loss, and/or emotional disconnection. We offer a non-judgmental and compassionate approach to guide you through difficult conversations. By fostering trust and closeness, therapy facilitates understanding and creates emotional safety within the relationship. We can help you and your partner:

  • Identify and transform harmful patterns into healthy interactions that foster a strong and lasting partnership

  • Improve empathy and emotional understanding between each other

  • Strengthen your friendship and intimacy

  • Explore and identify the root causes of conflicts

  • Understand and address individual and relationship stressors

If you are unable to find a suitable appointment time, please consider completing the enquiry form. This will allow us to check for any potential availability, including possible cancellations, and accommodate your needs accordingly.

Emotion Focused Therapy in Melbourne

Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) delves into the repetitive, negative cycles of interaction that often entangle couples. These cycles can create a sense of unease or distress within each partner, leading to defensive reactions that hinder closeness and emotional safety.

This pattern can be compared to a familiar path, where the steps feel familiar and the effects on each partner is profound. Many relationships find themselves caught in this repetitive cycle, struggling to break free from its grip.

EFT provides a gentle and non-blaming approach to address the distress within couples and relationships. It values and validates the unique perspectives of each partner, by diving beneath the surface to uncover the deeper needs and fears that often go unnoticed, enabling partners to authentically express these emotions to one another. This transformative process paves the way for new steps—one rooted in connection, safety, and security.

The ultimate aim is to facilitate the development of a secure attachment within couples and relationships.

“AS HUMANS, WE ARE HARD-WIRED TO FORM LOVING CONNECTIONS WITH SAFE OTHERS. OUR EARLIEST CARE-GIVING RELATIONSHIPS SHAPE OUR EXPECTATIONS OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS LATER IN LIFE.”

Attachment

John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who is one of the founding figures of attachment theory, claimed that our early relationships with caregivers provides us a blueprint for how we view and navigate relationships later in life.

Our attachment styles, shaped by our caregivers' responsiveness to us in our early life, influence how we cope with seeking support. If our caregivers were responsive and available, we learn that we can rely on others for support and comfort, and feel safe and worthy in doing so. However, if our caregivers were less responsive, we may have learned that we cannot rely on others to meet our emotional needs and that we are not worthy of doing so. We develop strategies to amplify our emotions OR we learn to manage on our own. These strategies helped us cope when support was unavailable.

“Losing connection with your loved one not only jeopardises your sense of security but also triggers an alarm in the amygdala, the brain’s threat and fear centre. In that moment, rational thinking takes a back seat, and primal panic takes over, prompting immediate reactions. Understanding and addressing this primal response is key to restoring a sense of calm and fostering healthier connections”