Los Angeles Couples Therapy - In-Person & Online
relationship counseling for couples, intimate partnerships, & Consensual non-monogamy in northeast los angeles & online
As humans, we are made to connect. Intimacy with other people is sustaining and fulfilling, but it can also be incredibly challenging to develop and maintain relationships. We are here to help you find more satisfaction, enjoyment, and security in your intimate relationships. You have likely heard intimate relationship therapy referred to as couples counseling or marriage counseling, but we recognize that our romantic partnerships can be multifaceted and exist outside of the heteropatriarchal norm. The Kindman & Co. team welcomes, and has experience working with, relational configurations of all kinds, including consensual non-monogamy and polyamorous relationships; open partnerships; partnerships with diverse gender expressions or sexualities; as well as non-romantic partnerships, like creative or business partners. Your intimate relationships are complex and evolving, and therapy can help you recognize and advocate for your relational needs within any kind of relationship structure. Keep reading to learn more about our approach to relationship & couples’ therapy.
who is relationship & couples counseling for?
We know just how hard it can be to navigate difference, to be curious when feeling challenged, and to be warm and forgiving when feeling hurt. As humans, we all struggle with this! Thus, relationship counseling can benefit anyone. Relationship therapy sessions can be beneficial for those who want to deepen their intimacy, work through disagreements, heal from betrayal, and feel more secure within their partnership. The Kindman & Co. team works with folx who wish to develop better communication, to learn to meet their own and their loved ones’ needs, and to navigate tough times with increased confidence. In short, we welcome anyone who wants to access more compassion in their relationships and develop more nourishing connections. Our clients schedule relationship counseling for a variety of situations, including:
New relationships or Premarital Counseling with partners who want to feel more committed, confident, aligned and secure.
Marriage counseling & Long-term partners who want to continue growing together, resolve long-standing conflicts, or feel more connected.
Partners navigating intercultural or interracial relationship challenges and wanting to bridge more understanding and celebration of their differences.
Business partners, bandmates, and co-stars who have creative differences and are struggling to work together.
Partners who are navigating betrayal or infidelity and want to repair or compassionately end their relationship.
Those engaged in expansive relationship styles like polyamory, consensual nonmonogamy, open relationships, and more who want to create a safe, secure, nourishing, and equitable environment for all parties.
New parents who need support in redefining their partnership in the context of their growing family.
Partners navigating significant life transitions or crises like relocation, retirement, or the loss of a loved one and seeking to better support one another and reestablish feelings of security.
Biological families, blended families, and families-of-choice who are trying to create more stability and deepen intimacy bonds.
we’re doing okay, do we really need couples counseling?
Many people think of therapy as something you do to “fix” a problem, and couples therapy can certainly address relationship struggles or new stressors. But relationship therapy can also be used preventively, like premarital counseling, as a way to build a healthy, nourishing relationship that can withstand tough times. In the “honeymoon” stage of relationships, romance is often easy and intimacy bonds feel strong. Just think about how much time and energy you devote to getting to know someone and building a new relationship! You learn all their favorite things, listen to their favorite band together, go on dates to explore new places. You feel excitement and expectation. When things become familiar, it’s natural to stop investing as much energy and time into your relationship.
Of course many partnerships experience significant crises like infidelity, grief or loss, financial strain, etc., but often many intimate relationships dissolve because people just stop working at them. Partners start accepting less than they want, and letting little things slide. They stop seeing and meeting each others’ needs. They stop getting to know each other and paying attention. They grow and change without inviting their partner along. Eventually, small missteps may turn into deep, irresolvable differences.
Couples’ therapy and marriage counseling work to keep relationships healthy and thriving, and gives partnerships strategies for addressing hurt and pain quickly and effectively. Therapy is a way to affirm and reaffirm your desire to maintain a healthy, fulfilling relationship, and to regain the joy and energy of being with your partner.
what is co-therapy for relationships?
Paul and Kaitlin Kindman are business partners, therapists, and they also happen to be husband and wife. Can you imagine a satisfying relationship that involves living and working with the same person every day? Kaitlin and Paul know a thing or two about the importance of maintaining secure intimacy bonds, and that’s why they decided to offer co-therapy for intimate relationships. When you and your partner choose co-therapy, both Kindmans will meet with you during counseling sessions. Paul and Kaitlin believe in the innate value of modeling transparency and vulnerability for their clients, and co-therapy is one of the ways that they do this. In addition to receiving insights about how the Kindmans work to maintain their own relationship, they offer multiple perspectives and experiences to help create a more balanced, equitable therapy environment where you can feel safe discussing your own relationship challenges.
take our PACT: our approach to relationship counseling
PACT stands for Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy®. PACT is a way of helping couples and partners prepare for a robust, lasting relationship, navigate tough times, and preserve partnerships on the brink of dissolution. Why does it work? PACT combines thoughtful and realistic consideration of three areas of human experience that directly impact relationships: neuroscience (how the brain works), attachment theory (our blueprint for how we connect and love), and the biology of arousal (the ability to manage social engagement, feel energized and alert, and the way we react when feeling safe/unsafe).
During PACT sessions, partners are asked to pay close attention to the moment-to-moment changes in each other’s bodies, faces, and voices. We will recreate stressful or painful situations that have occurred outside of therapy, so that we can work through them together in real time and send you off with improved understanding and capacity to care for one another.
let's begin.
You are not in this alone. You were never meant to be. Each and every one of us innately possesses strengths to live more enriching, joyful lives; let us help you to (re)connect to your strengths to find well-being.
