At New Directions Psychology, we use Emotion-Focused Couples’ Therapy (EFT), Brief Couples Therapy or Gottman Marital Therapy, which are evidence-based approaches that aim to improve a couple’s connection.

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What is couple's therapy:

• It is a collaborative process where the shared issues in a relationship are discussed in a non-blaming manner.

• Couples’ therapy is designed to help both partners gain a clearer understanding of the dynamics of your relationship and how you both contribute to difficulties you are facing as a couple.

• Couples therapy focuses on how the couple interacts and communicates, and the focus of therapy is on helping the couple to restructure the relationship and create new ways of relating to each other, not on changing each other. 

• It gives you a chance to see your partner in a new and more empathic light.

• It provides time to express yourself more clearly and state your needs in a way that your partner might be better able to hear.

• It involves working together to improve the connection and feeling of trust and closeness between partners.

• Couples’ therapy takes commitment from both partners to take responsibility for the relationship and moving forward as a couple. This will involve regular attendance and scheduling sessions in spite of outside commitments.

• The psychologist is a relationship consultant but cannot change the relationship: only the couple can. The couple needs to pay attention to and work on the relationship between sessions, and may be asked to complete homework tasks between sessions.

• There may be an individual session for each partner after the first or second couples’ session. These sessions are confidential, but if information seems crucial for the change process, your psychologist may advise you to share it with your partner.

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Standard session fees are payable for this service, please see our Fees and Rebates page for more information.

 

Unfortunately, this service does not qualify for rebate under Medicare. However, a rebate may be available under private health cover. Please check with your fund.

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