Couples Therapy in Eugene, Oregon

My work with couples holds space for the whole of what a relationship is — not only its breakdowns, but also its edges, its longings, and what it's becoming. You might be coming in because of a specific difficulty, or because you want to build something deeper and more aligned. Either is welcome here.

Some couples arrive because the same conflict keeps repeating and they can't find the way out of it. Some because trust has been broken — through infidelity, deception, or agreements that weren't kept — and repair feels uncertain. Some because connection has grown distant, like they're sharing a life but no longer fully meeting each other in it. Some are at a crossroads, trying to decide whether to stay. And some aren't in trouble at all — they want to deepen what is already good. Whatever brings you in, the work starts in the same place: with what's actually happening between you.

What Becomes Possible in This Work

Often the first shift couples experience is that the patterns of interaction between you become more visible. Most couples live inside their dynamics without being able to see them clearly — one partner pushing for resolution while the other withdraws, one carrying the emotional weight while the other stays unsure how to engage. When a pattern like this is named in the room, something loosens. The relationship gains room to breathe, and the cycle becomes something you can respond to together rather than something that keeps happening to you.

From there, what opens up depends on what the relationship needs. When repair is the work, it becomes possible to return honestly to the moments that shaped where you are now — the withdrawals that were never named, the injuries carried forward as if nothing happened, the agreements that weren't kept. Not to relitigate them, but to let them finally be acknowledged for what they are. This is often how trust begins to rebuild — not through reassurance, but through honest contact.

When the work is about deepening, it becomes possible to meet each other in ways the relationship hasn't made room for before. To say what's been unsaid. To be known more completely, and to know each other more completely in return. In time the shape of closeness can shift toward a relationship that feels co-created and deeply connected.

How I Think About Relationships

I see relationships as living systems — always becoming something, whether that process is conscious or not. From an existential perspective, close relationship asks us to hold our own needs, fears, and histories alongside the reality of another person.

The question at the center of this work is simple but not easy: Who are we becoming together?

From this perspective, a strong relationship is not one without tension. It's one where both people can remain connected to themselves and to each other — where closeness and autonomy can coexist, where honesty doesn't threaten connection, and where both partners are actively participating in the direction the relationship takes.

My Approach

My work with couples is built around an existential-humanistic orientation to therapy. Within this framework I draw on a range of practical tools and relational theories — the Gottman Method, PACT, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Gestalt therapy, and psychodynamic approaches. These methods inform how I work with conflict cycles, emotional disconnection, and the ways partners' nervous systems respond to each other under stress. But the foundation of my work is always existential: I'm interested in what is real between you.

Couples Therapy in Eugene, Oregon

Whatever has brought you to this page — a specific difficulty, a sense of distance, a turning point, or simply wanting to build something more intentional together — you're welcome to reach out.

You may also want to explore relationship conflict & repair or boundaries in relationships, or learn more about who I work with.