Every relationship goes through challenging seasons and no one is immune from this fact of life. Yet, when you’re going through the stress, lack of communication, and emotional distance, it might feel like you’re the only couple this has ever happened to.

Approach to Couples therapy: Charlene takes a trauma-informed, integrative and holistic approach to couples counselling. She uses a combination of attachment theory, Polyvagal theory, and family systems theory, and pairs that with her training in EFT and Gottman. FYI: The Gottman modality is rooted in four decades of research with over 3000 couples.

Couples counselling at Oak and Stream Psychotherapy Clinic will help you and your partner to:

• Build trust and strengthen your commitment
• Know each other better
• Cultivate fondness and admiration for each other
• Learn to turn towards each other to strengthen your connection
• Begin looking at your partner as your friend instead of your adversary
• Manage conflict
• Support each others hopes and dreams 
• Understand each other – your goals, values, and vision for your future
• Learn how to communicate in ways so you can be heard and understood

Couples therapy can help you improve your relationship.

It’s helpful to have a therapist who can remind you that every couple has their ups and downs. Whether your conflict is because life got busy and you found yourselves disconnected, maybe you’re living like room mates, perhaps you’re transitioning into a new stage of life, or experiencing the pain of betrayal trauma. In all of these instances and more, a couples therapist can help you work through and process the issue(s) that have you feeling stuck.

Oak and Stream Psychotherapy Clinic offers several couples counselling options:

• Pre-marital counselling: Too many young couples choose to overlook concerns and misunderstandings when they are about to get married. However, it’s the couples who get help in identifying potential areas of conflict and relational weaknesses and are able to get effective tools to negotiate and re-negotiate these challenges who are able to build sturdier foundations over the years. Talking about your relationship matters. Knowing how to talk about your relationship is key.

In the words of the incomparable Mr. Rogers, “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

• Marriage counselling: Many couples struggle with issues around communication, finances, sex, loyalty, parenting, commitment, grief etc. This is a safe space to work through your differences. The joy, intimacy, love, and respect that initially brought you together may no longer be there and you may be feeling hopeless. Yet, it may not be too late to begin building up your marriage and making it solid for years to come.
• Couples intensives: Take 3 hours and get to the root issue. We will look at some of the underlying patterns that may be affecting your relational health. This is not a group experience, it’s just you and your partner taking the quality time to focus on your relationship.