MaryBeth Lorence, LMFT
Therapy for Relationships
Relationships are complicated! And if our experiences with relationships early in our lives weren't all that, it can be difficult to navigate relationships in adulthood. Below you'll find more information about the types of relationship therapy I offer, and how I can help you improve those relationships.
Couple Therapy
As relationships evolve, the individuals in a couple may grow closer together or find themselves drifting apart. Often, one partner in the drifting-apart couple may be the one to initiate the idea of therapy. My role is not to referee or decide who is “right” and who is “wrong.”
Instead, I help you both to address and understand problematic patterns that may be interfering with communication and intimacy. I help you recognize how past feelings and vulnerabilities may be emerging in your current relationship and guide you toward expressing these emotions in ways that encourage bonding.
However, you may be contemplating, or have already decided, to separate. I can help guide you through the decision-making process and/or separation process by facilitating difficult conversations and assuring that each of you is heard.
Relationship Therapy for Individuals
What happens when you feel like the main source of stress in your life is your relationship with your significant other . . . and that person says they don't want to come to therapy? It's a tough, but not unusual, situation. Couple therapy is ideal, but if that isn't possible, working with one partner with a focus on the relationship can have overall positive effects on the couple. I'll help you communicate your needs more clearly, better manage your reactions to your partner, and shift any unhelpful patterns you might be caught in with your partner. The changes you make can help you and your partner manage the relationship more successfully.
Adult Family (or Friend) Pairs
Family! Perhaps the longest, most influential relationships you’ll ever have. By the time you reach adulthood, you may think that your problematic interactions with family members are so entrenched that there is little hope for change. But you also long for something different: Better understanding, better communication, a closer bond.
As a therapist working with adult family pairs, I can help you both identify unhealthy patterns you’ve been stuck in and work with you on ways to shift those patterns. I will guide you toward a place where you can hear each other without defensiveness or blame. Healing the relationship between two family members has the potential not only to bring each of you peace of mind, but to provide positive change to the greater family structure.