Dynamic Couples Therapy
One of the largest stumbling blocks facing couples seeking therapy that I have seen over the years is that all too often there are “too many cooks in the kitchen."
My meaning here is that often the husband is seeking his own male therapist and the wife, feeling she needs a woman’s perspective, looks for a female therapist and now you have two individual processes taking place. Now there is nothing wrong with this, however, once it becomes evident the couple relationship also needs to be addressed whose therapist do they see?
Often they decline each to see the other’s therapist because then it feels like there would be side-taking. So what happens? They seek out yet a third therapist to now perform couples therapy…that’s a lot of therapists! I feel like there is a good joke in there somewhere about how many therapists it takes to change a lightbulb ;) Beginning to catch my meaning about the cooks in the kitchen?
My solution over the years as a solo practitioner has been to be the one roof everyone comes under...meaning I have often done the individual sessions for each client and ALSO the couples therapy.
Yay for the 3 in 1 bargain therapist special! Many therapists decline to use that method for a variety of reasons: they are poorly trained in in-depth couples work beyond what their college institution taught them, they have limited experience, they think it’s unethical or simply cannot manage the boundaries needed to keep things straight. (Which one of you told me what and what is the other one allowed to know?)
Thankfully I’ve been able to solve all these issues by exposing myself to a variety of trainings over the years that focus on how to assess and treat individual and couples clients, I’ve had good mentorship from my previous employers and I’m (thankfully for all of us) naturally quite good at informed consent and managing healthy boundaries.
So the good news for couples up to this point has been being able to use me as a one stop shop if they feel like I’m a good fit. However the issue inevitably becomes that I am only one humble therapist and there are more of you than there are of me…
This is where Dynamic Couples Therapy comes into play! After many years True North Vitality has finally found a suitable female therapist to compliment this process.
Using this style we have the ability to solve virtually all of the issues facing couples seeking both individual and marital therapy; from having too many cooks in the kitchen to not having enough of a single therapist to go around. Now couples seeking therapy have the ability to meet with me and my associate, Jordan, 1:1 to look at the things unique to men and women/husbands and wives AND we are able to join forces to have joint sessions together to run a couples session!
Outside of a group practice this is virtually impossible. Meaning two therapists running their own separate practices will almost never be able to coordinate even a time and location to meet jointly with a couple, much less discuss the clinical issues facing each partner and bring them together for joint marital therapy.
Even in an existing group practice if you were to find two therapists that could see you both and also coordinate times to see everyone, there is no guarantee they will have time to collaborate on your case together much less be aligned with similar values on how to run therapy. More on that here.
So what does this mean for you, the potential couple seeking therapy?
Dynamic Couples Therapy means you get two qualified therapists to see you not only for your individual needs separately, but we are able to discuss important aspects of your case outside of session and tailor a marital treatment plan that advocates for EACH partner in the marriage.
No more side-taking, no more "he said, she said" with therapists having differing or opposing approaches. One UNIFIED front of couples therapy all for you under one roof. Now what could be better than that?!