Imago Relationship Therapy

Imago relationship therapy (IRT) aims to equip couples with the tools necessary to relate to each other in healthier ways and reveal the emotional pathway formed in childhood that led them to their current situation. This form of therapy combines spiritual and behavioral techniques with Western psychological methodologies in order to assist couples in unveiling their unconscious components.

When your partner REALLY listens to you, a disagreement need not become a fight. We'll use Harville & Helen Hendrix's communication techniques to listen to understand, rather than just waiting to fire back a rebuttal. So often, we aren't even fighting about the same thing. Having help to slow down and stay on the same track has made all the difference for couples' relationships. I have heard "I just wish we'd done this sooner," as I work with couples to re-build connection.

This is a specific kind of relationship therapy that is designed to help conflict within relationships. We learn about the individual's own past wounds and how it maybe affecting their parter/relationship. Through this process we learn about personal triggers that are impacting the relationship.

I engage in IMAGO relationship therapy often with couples to help them connect, attach, and communicate more effectively.

While I do use other modalities for relationship therapy, such as Gottman and EFT, I find the techniques and exercises used in Imago therapy, which is best suited for helping clients take more control of their own healing process.

I work with couples using the couples dialogue, helping them to feel heard and understood, with the goal of engaging in healthy conflict and having a strengthened relationship.

My favorite way of working with clients is through Imago because it fosters deep communication.

Imago Couples Therapy is based on the idea that we each carry an image of what love should feel like, shaped by early experiences. This image influences our romantic relationships, often complicating them with past and present issues. Imago therapy aims to build empathy, understanding, appreciation, and connection between partners. Imago therapy can help you: ​ Reinvigorate your relationships. Transform conflict into connection. Embrace new possibilities for deeper relationships.

I now offer a nine-week online psychoeducational program that serves both as a self-study program for those couples who wish to work on their relationship at home, working at their own pace, as well as an introduction to couples counseling, teaching the skills and tools needed to make couples counseling really beneficial and successful. I particularly enjoy working with couples from different cultural backgrounds. Inter-cultural relationships offer unique challenges to couples.

I have advanced training in Imago relationship since the early 1980s. I recently renewed my training in this method and am working towards my certification in this approach. I find Imago is very valuable in doing depth work with couples, helping partners build an intimate and loving space between them that feels nurturing, safe, and authentic. I also appreciate how simple the imago dialogue process is so any couple could learn this and use it to their benefit very quickly.

One of the biggest problems couples have are boundary violations. This is not always an intentional act, however, the experience tends to be frustrating. Through Imago therapy, you and your partner will learn to respect one another's boundaries, mirror during conversation to build understanding as this should be the focus in conversation. Validation and empathy are focuses in the treatment so that a strong bond can be secured via understanding and learning to communicate in a healthy manner.

Imago therapy will help you discover how to connect deeper to create the healthy and happy relationships you've always dreamed of having.

The goal of Imago Therapy is to help couples recognize and understand their unconscious patterns of behavior and communication, and to learn how to communicate in a more conscious and effective way. The therapist works with the couple to create a safe and supportive environment where they can explore their emotions and experiences, and develop skills to improve their relationship.