Couples Therapy
in Oakland
Helping Couples Who Want More Connection Improve Your Couple Bond
If you are struggling with conflict or disconnection in your relationship, I understand how difficult that can be. You might feel sad, mad or hurt all the time about the way your partner treats you, or feel like you can’t communicate anymore without dissolving into an argument.
Maybe you are planning to get married or are new in your relationship and have noticed some things that come up between you two that make you anxious or uncomfortable about your future together.
Or you’ve been together a long time and feel frustrated and lonely in your relationship because your partner never seems to support you or listen to you, and is always critical. You might be hesitant to talk to family and friends anymore about your relationship.
Talking to a neutral third-party therapist like me can help you to get more clarity and move forward from the stuck places.
Here Are Some Specific Challenges That I Can Help You With
As a Couple who wants more connection challenged with conflict or distance in your relationship you may be feeling:
- Sad and weepy and lonely before (and after) each fight you have
- Like you don’t really know or get (or like) this person that you married
- Tense and nervous to be around your partner because it always ends in an argument
- Disappointed at the way this relationship has turned out
- So tired and unhappy about all the disagreements and endless frustrations. If only your partner would just...
Even if you are feeling overwhelmed or hopeless with feelings like these, Couples Therapy can help.
As Your Couples Therapist, I Can Help You Feel Happier in Your Relationship
I'm Cindi Rivera and I'm a couples therapist who is uniquely qualified to help you improve your couple bond. I have lots of experience over the years working with couples, including couples of color or mixed race.
I have done specialized training with the Couples Institute that has helped me to identify the developmental stages of a couple and the particular issues they struggle with, utilize tools to guide each person in the relationship toward greater self definition, and empower them to build more intimate connected relationships.
Combined with my years of experience and training, I have personal experience and history (good and bad) with long-term committed relationships; issues related to divorce; affairs; communication struggles; parenting challenges, and of being in relationships of mixed cultural and ethnic backgrounds, that help me to understand what you’re going through and how to face the challenges of moving forward.
I help couples on all points of the relationship continuum:
Early in a relationship before making a commitment, to deciding to get married (I offer premarital courses to build the best foundation for a long happy marriage); to dealing with the stressors and challenges of raising your family, ongoing marital conflict, cultural or background differences that get in the way of a happy marriage, dealing with the aftermath of affairs, to deepening a meaningful and satisfying marital connection; or to deciding whether to stay or go (or divorce) and planning for a separation; to getting through tough times or a divorce and reclaiming a life of your own.
In couples therapy, I will meet with you weekly or bi-weekly, and address your current patterns of communication, making connections to past important relationships (especially from childhood) to identify areas where you might be able to make shifts in how you relate to each other.
We will focus on improving communication and your couples development through effective expression of one’s self (in a way that invites being listened to), and equally important, effective listening to your partner (in a way that invites sharing). I will help you learn skills that will improve the good feeling of your relationship, make you feel more empowered to create the change you would like, be better able to handle potential disagreements, and better able to manage your own feelings when your partner is having his or her own struggles. You will learn ways to respond, rather than react, to each other and feel more satisfaction in your marriage or relationship.
Couples Therapy Can Improve Your Life
Couples Therapy can provide the support you need to help you find your way towards a better life. Even if you’re feeling lost now, I can help guide you in making lasting, positive changes in your life. Couples Therapy can help you:
- Start feeling some connection and intimacy in your relationship again
- Discover ways to communicate with your partner, where when you talk, they listen more and when you listen, they share more
- Understand how you might be contributing to any difficulties in your relationship, and learn ways to make effective changes so you can stop that from happening
- Learn how to handle your own emotions even when your partner is having a strong reaction
- Learn to operate as a team more often and less like adversaries, by managing your conflict and decision-making with more empathy and respect
It’s not easy managing the challenges in your relationship but the good news is that it's possible to feel better. I have the experience to help you.
Take the Next Step, Reach Out For Your Free Consultation
If you are challenged by conflict or disconnection in your relationship and want to improve your couple bond, reach out to me for your free 15-minute consultation at 510-482-4445 or by emailing me at [email protected] today. I'm here for you.