If you find yourself feeling distant, conflicted, or unexpectedly alone after a loss, know this: you are not failing at grief, and you are not failing at love. You are navigating one of the most profound human experiences there is.

Discernment Counseling helps couples at a crossroads slow down and gain clarity about the future of their relationship. Rather than fixing the relationship, the goal is to make a thoughtful, intentional decision about whether to continue as is, separate, or commit to couples therapy.

In long-term relationships, it’s often the small, unaddressed moments of disconnection, micro-hurts, that quietly erode trust and intimacy over time. Consistent, sincere acts of attunement and repair can slowly rebuild safety and restore closeness.

Gratitude is not simply about being polite or optimistic; it is a relational skill that can significantly improve emotional connection and relationship satisfaction, especially during high-stress times like the holidays.

This blog post encourages couples to use Gottman Method communication tools to stay connected during the holiday season. and how intentional, emotionally attuned communication can help couples remain grounded, supported, and close during a busy and often stressful time of year.

Therapy around life transitions can help transform fear from a paralyzing emotion into a source of motivation and growth. Rather than eliminating fear, therapy helps integrate it as a compass pointing toward what truly matters.

When grief reshapes our world, meaning and spirituality can become powerful guides toward healing. Through ritual, remembrance, and the quiet endurance of love, we learn that healing isn’t about forgetting—it’s about discovering the sacred within our sorrow.

With patience, practice, and empathy, couples can move from a cycle of avoidance and frustration to one of connection and growth. Arguments may never feel comfortable, but they can become opportunities for deeper understanding—and for building a relationship where both partners feel safe, seen, and valued.

If you’re navigating the grief of a child leaving for college, you don’t have to do it alone. As a grief therapist, I offer a compassionate space to process the mix of pride, sadness, and uncertainty that comes with this new chapter. If you’d like support in finding balance and meaning during this transition, I welcome you to reach out. Together, we can honor your grief while opening space for growth in this next season of life.

Discernment counseling, unlike the usual couples therapy that works on repairing and strengthening the relationship, is a short-term, structured process that helps partners decide whether to stay the course, separate, or commit to deeper couples therapy.

In this blog, I explain how the Gottman Method helps partners heal after infidelity. Learn the 3 phases—Atone, Attune, Attach—to rebuild trust and intimacy.

Do you and your partner have different ideas of summer fun? Whether one of you craves rest and the other wants adventure, seasonal differences can spark unexpected tension. This month’s blog explores how to navigate summer plans as a couple—with curiosity, compassion, and collaboration.

Summer travel can stir up unexpected waves of grief—especially when you’re far from familiar routines or revisiting shared memories. In this month’s blog, we explore how to honor your loss while navigating new places, and why there’s no such thing as a vacation from grief.

Every person has a unique way of feeling cared for. The key to lasting intimacy isn’t just feeling love—it’s learning how to communicate love in a way your partner can truly receive.

The end of a relationship is a deeply personal unraveling of dreams, identity, and connection—and often, trust is the deepest casualty. As a Seattle life transitions therapist I know it’s not just about the end of a relationship. It’s about what that end signals for their capacity to trust again, to be vulnerable, and to build something new.

Without a healthy perspective, couples risk making decisions out of panic, guilt, anger, or exhaustion. Discernment counseling is designed to slow the process down, not to save or end a relationship, but to help each person gain a clearer view of what has happened and what is possible.

One of the most transformative approaches to conflict is leading with compassion. Compassion doesn’t mean avoiding hard conversations or minimizing pain. Instead, it means staying connected to empathy, respect, and curiosity—even when things get messy.

Spring is often seen as a time of joy—buds on branches, longer days, and the promise of warmth returning. But if we look closer, spring isn’t just cheerful renewal. It’s also about struggle, transition, and slow emergence. It’s about things coming back to life—but not without effort.

Trust is the invisible architecture that supports every relationship. When divorce dismantles this structure, many find themselves standing in the rubble, unsure how to begin rebuilding. If you're navigating this challenging terrain, know that you're not alone, and there is a path forward.

Disagreement itself isn't harmful to relationships. In fact, the absence of conflict often signals disengagement or suppressed feelings. The real danger lies in how we express our differences. After helping couples transform destructive patterns into constructive conversations, I've identified key practices that allow partners to disagree without doing damage.