How weekly couples therapy works at Breakfree
Our standard pathway begins with a comprehensive couples assessment over the first two to three sessions. From there we move into weekly therapy sessions, usually 60 minutes, with intervals you can pace to what is sustainable. Most couples engage with us for between 8 and 24 sessions, depending on what's been brought into the room.
What we draw on
Our couples work is anchored in the Gottman Method — built on more than four decades of longitudinal research into what predicts relationship success. We also draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) where attachment patterns are the dominant theme, and Schema Therapy where long-standing individual patterns are showing up inside the relationship.
Common reasons couples reach out
There is no qualifying threshold of distress. People come to us at very different stages of relationship strain.
- Communication that has become circular, exhausting, or completely shut down
- Recovery from infidelity — for both partners
- Parenting conflict, including step-parenting and blended family tensions
- Pre-marriage preparation and pre-cohabitation planning
- Re-connecting after years of busy careers and small children
- Navigating a major life event — illness, loss, redundancy, mental-health crisis — together
What couples therapy is not
Therapy is not adjudication — we are not here to declare a winner. Therapy also is not a guarantee that a relationship will continue. Some couples leave couples therapy clearer, closer and back on the same team. Some leave with the clarity that the relationship has run its course. We hold both outcomes with care.