Couples Therapy

Discover effective couples therapy in NYC. Our experienced therapists can help improve relationships & resolve conflicts.

Find Your Therapist

Get Started with Couples Therapy in NYC

It’s not unusual for relationships to face challenges amidst the fast-paced lifestyle that defines life in New York. Couples therapy can help get you back on track. 

Citron Hennessey Therapy offers a safe and nurturing space in which couples can navigate their challenges and find solutions together. Our experienced professionals are here to help you reconnect and foster the growth and understanding you need to bring about positive transformation. 

Signing up for couples therapy or marriage counseling in New York with one of our compassionate therapists helps you develop the skills you need to:

  • Overcome communication difficulties and better express your needs
  • Deal with the complex emotions caused by infidelity or betrayal
  • Cope with difficult life transitions and shifting expectations
  • Combat disconnection and emotional neglect or distancing
  • Explore concerns about intimacy, desire, and sexuality 

Our therapists have experience and expertise spanning a broad range of unique situations. Whenever you’re ready to start couples counseling in New York City, we are here to support you with personalized care and compassion.

What is Couples Therapy?

Couples therapy is a specialized form of counseling that focuses on helping couples improve their relationship dynamics, resolve conflicts, and enhance their overall connection. It involves both partners working collaboratively with a trained psychotherapist to address specific concerns and goals.

Seeking couples therapy in New York is the first step in building a stronger, healthier relationship and it’s important to understand there’s no shame in reaching out for help. Whether you’re a young couple grappling with communication issues or a long-term partnership experiencing a crisis, effective couples therapy and marriage counseling in New York City are a commonly used resource for dealing with relationship roadblocks and improving overall satisfaction and well-being of both parties.

Do You Need Couples Therapy?

Maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship takes effort and commitment. While all couples face challenges and disagreements from time to time, there are instances when seeking professional help is the right move. For example, significant life transitions such as becoming parents, embarking on a career change, or adjusting to financial difficulty can put strain on a relationship.

If you’re unsure whether it’s time to start looking into New York couples counseling, here are some signs that may indicate it’s the right step for your relationship.

  • You find yourself locked into highly emotional cycles of repetitive conflict
  • One or both partners struggle with feelings of sustained mistrust or jealousy
  • Differences in beliefs and lifestyles lead to frequent fights or difficulties in decision-making
  • One or both partners feels ignored or undervalued by the other
  • You’re experiencing problems with sex life and intimacy
  • Family complications regarding children or relatives feel impossible to deal with
  • Communication barriers cause constant strain over simple issues
  • You have frequent disagreements over how to manage shared finances
  • One or both partners feels disconnected, unsupported, or misunderstood

How Couples Therapy Works

When you make the decision to commit to couples counseling in NYC, the Citron Hennessey Therapy team is here to guide you every step of the way. Our licensed psychotherapists are trained well beyond recognized industry standards, and we have a fantastic client support team too. 

Understanding what to expect can help alleviate any apprehension and allow you to fully embrace the transformative process ahead. At Citron Hennessey, we make the process as painless as possible so you can start making positive progress immediately. We focus on easy scheduling, simple payment, and seamless communication. Here’s an overview of what you can expect from our New York couples counseling services.

Find the Right Match

We know the importance of finding the right couples counselor. New York City life is full of unique challenges, and we believe it’s essential that your therapist understands your circumstances and how your day-to-day routine and the demands of Big Apple life affect your relationship.

You can start your search on our website by reading more about our team and filling in a short online questionnaire to find the right therapist for you. With over 30 dedicated therapists — all carefully selected for their compassion, insight, and education — you’ll be in great hands with whomever you choose.

However, to make the matching process more precise, we’ll ask for your input so you can set preferences about your therapist and their availability. Examples include the flexibility to request:

  • Weekday or weekend therapy
  • Daytime or evening therapy
  • A female, male, or non-binary therapist
  • An LGBTQ+ therapist
  • A therapist of color

In Person vs. Remote

Before you schedule a consultation, you’ll need to decide between in-person or remote sessions. If you’re looking for in-person therapy, you don’t need to worry about the clinical environment. Our comfortable and welcoming suites at our Madison Avenue offices look more like a spa than a doctor’s office, as our priority is always making you feel as relaxed as possible when you visit us for an appointment.

However, we understand that life gets busy and sometimes remote sessions just fit into your schedule better. Talking with a therapist online alleviates additional stress caused by having to take time off work or find childcare. Besides, depending on where you’re traveling from to attend couples counseling, New York traffic or transport networks might not work well with your schedule. Plus, there may be some circumstances where it’s just easier to talk online. For example, if you or your partner suffer from social anxiety or one of you has a chronic illness or physical disability, online therapy provides much more flexibility.

Your Initial Consultation

Once you’ve found a therapist and decided on the session type that’s right for you, we’ll schedule an initial consultation so you and your partner can meet with them to discuss your concerns, goals, and expectations. At Citron Hennessey, we value the importance of a strong therapeutic alliance, and our emotionally intelligent clinicians offer a diverse range of evidence based therapeutic styles. So, this is also your opportunity to assess whether the therapist you’ve chosen is the right fit for you and your partner going forward.

Assessment and Goal Setting

Once you’ve decided to move forward with your chosen therapist, the next phase involves an in-depth assessment of your relationship. Our couples therapy specialists use a range of techniques including interviews, questionnaires, and discussions to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and challenges you face in your partnership. Together, you’ll set specific goals that will serve as a roadmap for your therapy journey. Your therapist will tailor their approach to match your specific needs, ensuring you receive the care that best aligns with your goals and expectations.

Start Therapy Sessions

At Citron Hennessey, our therapists are highly skilled at helping couples improve communication, resolve conflicts, rebuild trust, and foster a deeper emotional connection. Honesty and transparency are vital to achieving your goals. So throughout your journey, your therapist will create a safe and non-judgmental space where you can both express yourselves openly. They will facilitate productive conversations, guide you through exercises and interventions, and provide tools and strategies to help you address the specific challenges you’re looking to overcome.

Does Couples Therapy Work?

For couples seeking marriage counseling in New York, seeing a qualified relationship specialist could be the solution you need for a happy, healthy relationship. However, couples don’t need to be married or struggling in their relationship to seek counseling. In fact, couples who take preventative measures to strengthen their relationship and feel more connected with one another can benefit just as much from couple therapy as partners who wait until their relationship is on the rocks.

For couples willing to give it a go, there are multiple studies and pieces of research that demonstrate how effective couples therapy can be. There’s a widely cited statistic in the therapy field that the average couple waits six years before seeing a therapist. However, research by the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy revealed that a more accurate statistic is around 2 years and 248 days. Either way, the longer anger and resentment are allowed to fester, the more sessions couples will likely need to heal their emotional wounds. 

As for how successful couples therapy can be once treatment begins, a survey conducted by The American Association of Marriage and Family revealed that over 97% of couples felt they got the help they needed by attending counseling sessions, and 93% of couples agreed that reaching out for professional help gave them strategic tools to better handle conflict in their relationship. But what about couples counseling in New York, more specifically? Here at Citron Hennessey, our in-house stats reveal that over 94% of clients report being “completely satisfied” with their treatment.

What You’ll Learn

Attending couples therapy isn’t just about healing and resolving conflicts. It’s also an opportunity for personal growth and learning because both partners can develop valuable skills and insights that have the power to transform relationships. Part of building a strong relationship is learning the skills to build a strong foundation. But what exactly will you learn in couples therapy? 

Here are some examples of the key skills you and your partner can expect to develop by attending couples therapy in New York with one of our experienced therapists.

Effective Communication

Active listening - Learn to truly hear and understand your partner's perspective without interrupting or becoming defensive.

Expressing needs and emotions - Develop the ability to express your needs, desires, and emotions in a constructive and non-blaming manner.

Healthy Boundaries

Establishing boundaries - Learn to set and respect healthy boundaries to ensure each partner feels safe and valued.

Negotiating needs - Develop the skills to negotiate and compromise to achieve an enhanced sense of balance and fairness.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotion regulation - Develop your ability to identify and regulate your emotions, and support your partner in doing the same.

Empathy and understanding - Cultivate empathy to gain a deeper understanding of your partner's emotions, experiences, and perspectives.

Strengthening Intimacy

Nurturing connection - Discover ways to nurture and maintain emotional and physical connections in your relationship to help keep the flame alive.

Enhancing emotional intimacy - Learn to deepen emotional intimacy by embracing vulnerability to build a deeper emotional connection and sense of closeness.

Relationship Maintenance

Relationship rituals - Learn how to create meaningful rituals and shared experiences that strengthen your bond and create lasting memories.

Rebuilding trust – Access the tools you need to rebuild trust after breaches or conflicts to regain your sense of security and connection.

Healthy Conflict Management

Fair fighting - Understand how to engage in productive and fair discussions during conflicts and avoid harmful patterns such as criticism, defensiveness, contempt, or stonewalling.

Problem-solving - Develop problem-solving skills to address issues collaboratively, focusing on finding solutions rather than assigning blame.

Building Resilience

Coping with stress - Promote resilience and increase overall well-being by learning effective coping strategies to manage stress both inside and outside your relationship.

Adapting to change – Learn how to support each other more effectively through difficult times so you can navigate life transitions and unexpected challenges as a team.