Couples Counseling in Palo Alto
Couples Counseling Can Help Partners:
- Reconnect with one another
- Learn constructive communication skills
- Identify and modify underlying issues and patterns
- Enhance intimacy and sexuality, reigniting the spark in their relationship
- Nurture mutual respect
- Address issues of infidelity
- Prioritize each other over children and careers
Many Married Couples Don’t Try Couples Therapy & Acknowledge Their Struggles Until It Is Too Late
According to Forbes, 50% of marriages still end in divorce every year. Yet only a small percent of these couples seek couples therapy. The causes of divorce range from stressful life events like having children or coping with infidelity to simple misunderstandings or personal struggles. Negative patterns and ineffective communication can develop, clouding you and your partner’s judgment. A loss of trust and intimacy in a marriage can further damage communication at a time when you most need to speak with your partner.
The good news is that through couples counseling with an experienced and empathetic therapist, many couples can restore the trust and intimacy in their relationship, keeping their marriage and family together.
Save Your Relationship with Couples Marriage Counseling
It’s not uncommon to feel it’s impossible to overcome differences between partners, but it is important to know that it is possible to regain a strong connection. For years Azizeh has provided couples counseling for partners facing a variety of challenges. While each relationship and situation is unique, with practical solutions and effective communication it is possible to heal and rebuild an affectionate, lasting bond.
Every couple has different problems and goals they wish to achieve in couples therapy so each couple’s counseling addresses their unique needs and fears. In confidential sessions, clients will explore beyond the surface relationship issues to identify the emotions and patterns that have allowed those issues to fester. As Azizeh helps to identify and unlearn harmful behaviors, clients can focus on building a healthy, satisfying relationship.
The roots of many of the problems that lead to couples counseling are the emotions and attachments formed during childhood. Understanding the expectations that are carried into relationships, as impacted by early years, can be important. The role of the marriage counselor is to provide fresh perspectives and encouragement in a safe, interactive environment to help partners restore the trust and intimacy in their marriage.
In couples counseling sessions, married couples also learn to recognize and analyze how and when personal defenses compound problems in relationships. Understanding emotions and responses leads to empathy between partners, reducing and even eliminating many communication issues. Often this leads to an increase in romance and intimacy for married couples. With a direct counseling approach and a willingness to change, partners can regain and sustain a meaningful connection.
Some Frequently Asked Questions about Couples Therapy & Counseling
What if More Issues Come Up Because We Went to Counseling?
Couples Therapy will make you and your partner more aware of the behaviors and triggers in your relationship that lead to conflict. While becoming aware of your personal challenges and those of your partner can be difficult, this realization is the first step toward truly understanding and valuing yourself and your partner. In your sessions, Azizeh will provide a non-judgmental, secure environment where you can openly discuss difficult thoughts and emotions. It is important to remember you are part of your relationship, and addressing your personal challenges – and those of your partner – can make your relationship stronger.
Does Couples Counseling Even Work?
It is common to feel your relationship will only work if you can fix it on your own. You may wonder what a therapist can tell you about your relationship that you don’t already know. Perhaps you are worried any connection you develop in couples therapy will fade with time.
Years of study and experience counseling in different countries and cultures around the world have given Azizeh a unique perspective in addressing the challenges couples face. She asks direct questions and uses interactive exercises to help you reconnect on an emotional, trusting level with your partner over time. Additionally, she offers practical solutions to help you address ineffective communication the moment you leave her office. In her extensive experience, she finds as many as 80 to 90 percent of couples can work through their issues and stay together.
What if Counseling Reveals Something About Me I Don’t Want My Partner to See?
It is common to fear we won’t be accepted if our flaws or insecurities are revealed. But a relationship is built on a foundation of trust and acceptance. Our couple’s therapy sessions are intended to help you get to know yourself and your partner better in a safe, accepting atmosphere. In many cases revealing your fears and emotions increases the intimacy in a relationship as both partners begin to understand the other more completely.
Azizeh won’t tell you how your relationship should work, but she will provide thoughtful feedback and encouragement to help you and your partner begin reconnecting on a lasting, emotional level.
Azizeh E. Rezaiyan, M.A. is an English and Farsi speaking therapist who has been working with individuals, couples and families for more than 20 years. With her diverse language, she had been able to offer Iranian couples therapy and Persian marriage counseling along with her other specialties. She is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT), and is certified in Integrated Body Psychotherapy. Additionally, she is certified in Corporate Psychology and is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She holds an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT).
(650) 206-9973
