Every stage of a relationship comes with its unique joys and challenges. Whether you are dating, in a committed relationship, an open one, considering marriage or married, I work with you and your partner to meet your relational needs.
I support couples whose relationship is being challenged or redefined within the context of separation, divorce or joint parenting. I help you revisit each other’s role and identity as you transition into a new stage.
Some of the relational issues I work with include:
- Communication
- Conflict
- Infidelity
- Sexuality
- Consensual Non Monogamus Relationships
- Parenting
- Pre-marital counseling (6-8 weeks package available. Please inquire)
- Gender roles
- Multi-ethnicity
- Separation
- Divorce
- Joint parenting
Intensives to Move Out of Stuck Cycles
Many couples don’t struggle because they don’t care or aren’t trying hard enough. They feel stuck because attachment injuries, trauma responses, or nervous system patterns keep pulling them into the same painful cycles—conflict, shutdown, distance, or blame.
In couples therapy, I use EMDR, Brainspotting, and an Internal Family Systems (IFS)–informed approach to help partners slow these cycles down and understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Rather than focusing only on communication skills, we work with the emotional and nervous-system patterns that drive reactions in real time.
This work can happen in:
- Weekly sessions, for steady, relational repair and skill-building over time
- Couples intensives (2+ hour sessions), for deeper, more focused work when couples feel especially stuck or need momentum
This approach can help couples:
- Identify and interrupt repeating conflict or withdrawal cycles
- Heal attachment injuries and rebuild trust and emotional safety
- Understand how trauma shows up in the relationship (reactivity, shutdown, hypervigilance, disconnection)
- Navigate ADHD-related patterns such as misattunement, emotional intensity, or uneven emotional labor
- Reduce blame and increase empathy for each partner’s experience
- Feel more connected, responsive, and secure with one another
Intensive sessions allow more time to slow patterns down, process emotional material safely, and practice repair in-session—often helping couples access change that can be hard to reach in standard-length appointments. Weekly therapy offers consistency and support as couples integrate these changes into daily life.
My fee is $250 for a standard psychotherapy session (50-minute long). In my effort to make mental health accessible, I reserve a significant number of slots for Sliding Scale Fees. Please asks me about it. I accept all major credit cards, and I offer Superbills as an Out-of-Network provider. Use this tool to see if you qualify for reimbursement for my services.
If you’d like to schedule a free 20-minute video or phone consultation, text or give me a call at (858) 255-0895.
I look forward to connecting with you!
Notice to clients and prospective clients:
Under the law, health care providers need to give clients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services.
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services.
You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service, or at any time during treatment.
If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, or how to dispute a bill, see your Estimate, or visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.
Lodovica Guidarelli, LMFT 