Couples Therapy
Online in California • Illinois • Florida
Trauma-informed therapy for couples whose conflicts keep repeating—even when they deeply care.
You may have tried communication tools or therapy that helped briefly, but didn’t last. Couples therapy here focuses on what’s underneath the conflict—not just how it shows up—so change can last.
Our Approach to Couples Therapy
Couples therapy here begins by looking beneath the surface of conflict.
When arguments escalate or communication breaks down, it’s often not because either of you isn’t trying or doesn’t care — it’s because your systems are moving into protection rather than connection.For that reason, couples work includes individual trauma support alongside traditional couples sessions, helping reduce reactivity and support presence. Sessions are also paced to allow enough space for relationship work to take hold.
The goal is couples therapy that feels steadier, more supportive, and sustainable over time.
How Couples Therapy is Structured Here
Couples therapy here follows a structured, phase-based model.
For many couples, the most important shift happens when the nervous system patterns driving conflict are addressed directly — sometimes in extended or intensive formats — before traditional couples work continues.
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Couples therapy begins with us getting a shared understanding of what’s happening in your relationship and what you’re hoping will change.
In this phase, we work together to:
clarify your goals and what feels most important right now
identify the repeating cycles or stuck patterns you find yourselves in
understand how stress, past experiences, and nervous-system responses show up between you
establish safety, expectations, and a clear plan for the work
This step helps both partners feel oriented, supported, and aligned before further work begins.
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After we identify the cycle your relationship gets pulled into, we move into the part of therapy where real change begins.
In this phase, we work on reducing reactivity, understanding the patterns underneath conflict, and building the capacity to stay connected even when there are differences in perspective, needs, or priorities.
This includes EMDR-informed work along with a structured couples process that helps partners recognize their cycle, repair disconnection, communicate more clearly under stress, and respond to each other with more flexibility rather than reacting from protection.
This phase is called the Relationship Reset.
It can be done in a focused intensive format or through extended biweekly sessions, but the goal is the same — to help the relationship move out of the same repeating cycle and into a more stable, connected way of relating.
For some couples, this phase alone creates the shift they were needing.
Others continue into ongoing couples therapy to keep building on that foundation.Learn more about the Relationship Reset →
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After the Relationship Reset phase, some couples feel ready to move forward on their own.
Others choose to continue in ongoing couples therapy to keep strengthening the changes, work through more complex differences, or support the relationship over time.
In this phase, sessions focus more directly on the relationship itself — including working through gridlocked issues, staying connected during disagreement, and building a more secure and flexible way of relating.
Because the groundwork has already been laid, this phase tends to feel steadier and less reactive, allowing the work to go deeper without getting stuck in the same cycle.
Our Couples Therapy Format
Couples therapy here is organized to give your relationship the time and structure it needs. Here’s how couples sessions are scheduled:
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Alternative to traditional 50-minute weekly sessions
How this format works
You meet together in longer, biweekly sessions, creating enough time to slow things down and work with what’s happening between you without feeling rushed.
This format supports steadier pacing and ongoing attention to relational dynamics, rather than trying to resolve conflict in short, high-pressure windows.
This format may be a good fit it:
You want deeper couples work with more space between sessions to integrate and practice
Your relationship patterns need time and continuity, not quick fixes
You’ve found that weekly 50-minute sessions feel rushed, escalated, or repetitive
Session Schedule
One 90-minute couples session every other week; or
Two 50-minute couples sessions scheduled days apart, every other week
Who This Approach May Be a Good Fit For
This model is especially helpful for couples who:
feel stuck in repeating arguments or emotional distance
escalate quickly or shut down during conflict
have trauma histories impacting the relationship
have tried traditional couples therapy without lasting change
want to work at the root of disconnection, not learn better communication strategies only
Therapeutic Frameworks Used in Couples Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions About Couples Therapy
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Couples therapy at Root Psychotherapy is billed at the equivalent of $250 per 50-minute session.
Because our work is offered in an extended sessions, biweekly format there are two scheduling options:
90-minute session: $450
Alternative structure: two 50-minute sessions in the same week ($250 per session)
Both options provide the same therapeutic “dose.” We’ll choose the structure that best fits your schedule and capacity.
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When conflict escalates or connection breaks down, it’s often because one or both partners’ nervous systems are shifting into protection rather than safety. In those moments, insight or communication tools alone aren’t enough — reactions happen faster than intention.
Individual trauma-focused work helps reduce reactivity and soften protective responses, making it easier to stay present and engaged with one another. Extended sessions then provide enough time to slow things down, work with what’s happening between you, and support repair without feeling rushed or cut short.
Together, these elements create conditions where couples therapy can feel more supportive, effective, and sustainable — not just focused on managing conflict, but on restoring safety and connection.
Why individual trauma work and extended sessions enhance couples therapy →
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Yes. Couples therapy always includes direct work on the relationship.
We begin with joint assessment, pattern identification, and contracting so both partners understand what’s happening between them. Individual trauma work is then used to support the relationship — not replace couples therapy. Once reactivity softens, the focus returns fully to the couple.
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That depends on what will best support safety and progress.
Some couples are able to do trauma-informed work together in the same session (for example, using structured approaches like G-TEP). Other situations call for individual sessions to address personal history or activation that’s difficult to work with in front of a partner.
This decision is made collaboratively and revisited as the work unfolds.