Ester Perel + other wise experts taught me couples therapy. I help couples find their way back to each other without losing themselves in the process.

Therapy for Couples in Los Angeles

Based in Hermosa Beach, I provide couples therapy to clients throughout the South Bay, including Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, as well as online couples therapy across California and the greater Los Angeles area.

Relationships are where our deepest wounds and our greatest healing tend to show up. Relationships are also a never ending cycle of harmony, disharmony, and repair. 

You’re here because something in your relationship needs to change. Love is getting buried under resentment, miscommunication, emotional disconnection or just the constant hum of stress and unmet needs.

You're not alone. And you're not beyond repair.
I work with couples to slow things down, understand the emotional patterns underneath the surface, and rebuild connection from the inside out.

Repair is the part of the story

Couples Therapy in Hermosa Beach & Los Angeles | Online Couples Counseling California

I specialize in helping couples untangle what’s not working in their relationship by understanding how past experiences, old wounds, survival strategies, attachment fears, and unmet needs are playing out in the present. Together, we’ll shift out of blame and into connection. We’ll shift from “I” to “WE” to move away from who’s right or wrong toward mutual care and accountability.

We’ll get honest about what hurts and why. We’ll name the things that haven’t been said. And we’ll work toward real healing, not just better conflict management. Whether you’re meeting in person in Hermosa Beach,  across the South Bay or connecting through online therapy across California, we’ll create a safe, supportive space to do this important work.

Untangling Old Wounds, Rebuilding New Connections

Healing Relationship Patterns with Couples Therapy in the South Bay


In couples therapy we can work on...

Couples Therapy in Hermosa Beach, the South Bay and Online for Los Angeles

When there has been a rupture in trust, couples often feel torn between wanting answers and wanting the pain to stop. In therapy, we slow the process down, make space for the hurt, and work toward rebuilding honesty, safety, and clarity. Sometimes that means repairing the relationship and sometimes is understanding what comes next.

therapy for infidelity

Trust isn’t rebuilt through promises alone; it’s rebuilt through consistency, repair, and emotional presence over time. Couples therapy helps uncover what made trust fragile in the first place and supports both partners in creating new, more secure patterns.

therapy for Building and Rebuilding Trust

Most communication struggles aren’t about what is being said, but what’s happening underneath it. In therapy, we look at how fear, defensiveness, and unmet needs shape the way you talk, and help you communicate in ways that feel clearer, safer, and more connected.

therapy for communication

Conflict itself isn’t the problem; it’s how couples get stuck inside it. Therapy helps slow reactive cycles, understand each partner’s triggers, and build healthier ways to disagree without disconnecting or escalating.

therapy for conflict resolution

Some couples get caught in intense, reactive cycles where arguments escalate quickly and feel hard to stop. Couples therapy helps slow these patterns down, understand what’s driving them, and create safer ways to express anger, hurt, and needs.

therapy for High-Conflict Dynamics


Relationships can be both the source of pain and the place where healing happens. Couples therapy creates a space to explore how old wounds show up between you and how connection, accountability, and repair can become part of the healing process.

therapy for Healing Through Relationship

Cultural differences can bring richness to a relationship, but they can also create misunderstandings and unspoken expectations. Therapy offers space to explore values, family dynamics, identity, and communication styles with curiosity and respect.

therapy for multicultural couples

Past relational trauma can shape how safe or unsafe closeness feels in the present. In couples therapy, we gently explore how earlier experiences influence current patterns and work toward building emotional safety together.

therapy for Relational Trauma

Becoming parents often reshapes identity, intimacy, and partnership all at once. Therapy supports couples in navigating exhaustion, shifting roles, and emotional distance while finding their way back to connection.

therapy for Relational Trauma

Emotional and physical intimacy can be affected by stress, resentment, trauma, or feeling unseen. Couples therapy helps uncover what’s blocking closeness and supports rebuilding intimacy in ways that feel mutual and safe.

therapy for intimacy issues

When connection feels strained, couples often describe feeling lonely even when they’re together. Therapy helps identify what’s getting in the way of closeness and creates space for deeper emotional attunement.

therapy for difficulty connecting

Many couples get caught in a push-pull pattern where one partner pursues while the other withdraws. Therapy helps both partners understand these attachment strategies and find new ways to stay connected without overwhelming or disconnecting.

therapy for Avoidant vs. Anxious Dynamics

Jealousy often points to deeper fears around safety, worth or abandonment. In therapy, we explore what’s underneath the jealousy and work toward building trust, reassurance, and emotional security.

therapy for jealousy

Jealousy often points to deeper fears around safety, worth or abandonment. In therapy, we explore what’s underneath the jealousy and work toward building trust, reassurance, and emotional security.

therapy for Establishing or Improving Emotional Connection

Over time, couples may notice they feel more disconnected, distant, or like roommates rather than partners. Therapy offers space to understand how that distance developed and supports rebuilding emotional closeness at a pace that feels safe for both partners.

therapy for Emotional Distance / Growing Apart

Parenting can amplify differences in values, boundaries, and expectations. Therapy helps couples navigate co-parenting challenges while maintaining their relationship and sense of teamwork.

therapy for parenting

Neurodiverse relationships often involve different ways of processing emotions, communication, and sensory experiences. Therapy focuses on understanding each partner’s needs and building strategies that support connection rather than misunderstanding.

therapy for Neurodiversity

Premarital therapy offers couples a space to explore communication, expectations, and patterns before they become entrenched. It’s an opportunity to strengthen emotional awareness and build a solid foundation for the future.

therapy for premarital

premarital 

neurodiverse couples

High conflict couples

areas of specialty

new parents

Cross-cultural couples

LEARN MORE

Couples Counseling in Hermosa Beach, South Bay and Online Across California

weekend intensives

How Couples Therapy With Me Works

Hermosa Beach Couples Counseling for Healing and Connection

Imago

Gottman

relational life therapy

esther perel

click on each modality to learn more

where to start

I use evidence-based, skills-driven couples therapy to help you both feel more connected, grounded, and equipped when things get messy and uncertain. It isn’t about forcing it. It’s about building real tools to navigate conflict, repair trust, and stay close through the hard stuff.

Imago Relationship Therapy

Imago helps partners understand how childhood experiences shape adult relationships. You’ll learn how past wounds influence current conflict and how to use your relationship as a space for healing, not re-wounding.

The Gottman Method 

Based on decades of research, the Gottman Method offers tools for managing conflict, strengthening friendship and intimacy, and rebuilding trust after betrayal. It’s especially helpful when trust has been damaged by affairs or long-standing disconnection.

Relational Life Therapy (RLT)

RLT gets straight to the point. It’s a no-nonsense, honest approach that helps uncover imbalances in your relationship like power struggles, resentment, or emotional disconnection and teaches both partners how to show up with more integrity, empathy, and truth.

Esther Perel’s Transformative Couples Therapy

The method explores the tension between autonomy and connection in long-term love. You'll look at how routine, resentment, and unmet needs can erode desire and how to bring vitality and honesty back into your relationship.

“We are born in relationship, we are wounded in relationship, and we can be healed in relationship."

H. Hendrix

REACH OUT

My couples therapy helps you change those patterns, not just by “talking it out,” but by learning how to listen, stay present, and meet each other’s needs without losing your own.
When we don’t feel safe or understood in our relationship, we start to protect ourselves instead of turning toward each other. That protection might look like shutting down, snapping, keeping score, or checking out.

Sometimes, addressing these patterns also means exploring your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a deeper way  which is where individual therapy can support the work we do together. It helps you heal old wounds, strengthen self-awareness, and show up more fully for your partner.

After working together, couples report:


After Couples Therapy With Me

South Bay Couples Therapy

After spending years in mediation with couples at the end of their relationships, I decided to head down a more positive path becoming a therapist who specializes in work with couples. The goal in therapy is for clients to gain clarity and direction in their relationships, and to learn tools for happier and healthier bonds with their partners.

My main theoretical approach to couples therapy is Imago Relationship Therapy that believes that our childhood experiences and attachment wound create expectations and defenses that cause problems in our relationship. The goal of therapy is to help couples heal old childhood wounds by recognizing and interrupting old patterns and developing healthier ones. 

While I take most from Imago, I consider myself an integrative therapists by borrowing from different modalities I am trained in.
 

Who I am.

·       Imago Couples Therapy with Harville Hendrix, certificate
·       The Relational Life Therapy Approach to Couples Therapy with Terry Real, master class
·       Encounter-Centered Couples Therapy: “Teaching Couples the Art of Connection” training
·       The Gottman Method to Treating Affairs and Trauma: An Advanced Training Course
·       Healing from Affairs Training with Tammy Nelson: Moving Past the Trauma of Betrayal and Infidelity
·       Integrative Sex and Couples Certification Training: Certified Sex Therapy Informed Professional (CSTIP) Course 
·       Integrative relationship therapy certification with Tammy Nelson
·       Transformative approach to couples therapy with Esther Perel, master class

Couples therapy in Hermosa Beach and online in California

How to get started with therapy

contact me

Reach out using the contact form. Share a bit about what’s bringing you to couples therapy- no need to overthink it. I’ll get back to you with next steps.

01.

initial
consultation

We’ll start with a free call. This is a chance for both of you to ask questions, get a feel for my approach, and see if we’re a good fit. No pressure, just conversation

02.

first
appointment

If we decide to work together, in our first full session, we’ll dive into what’s been feeling stuck or painful in your relationship. I’ll help you both slow things down, name what’s not working, and begin mapping a path forward.

03.

ongoing
sessions

We’ll work together weekly (or biweekly, depending on your needs) to build stronger communication, heal past wounds, and create more connections. Every step is tailored to your relationship, not a one-size-fits-all plan.

04.

Couples Therapy in Hermosa Beach, South Bay, and Online for Los Angeles & California

08. How do we know if couples therapy is right for us?


07. Can couples therapy help if one of us is considering separation?


06. Can couples therapy help rebuild trust after betrayal?


05. Can couples therapy help us reconnect when we've grown apart?




04. Can couples therapy help us communicate without fighting?




03. Can couples therapy help if we keep having the same arguments?


02. When should we go to couples therapy?


01. What is couples therapy and how can it help our relationship?



Couples therapy gives you a space to slow down the patterns that have developed between you and understand what keeps getting in the way of connection. Rather than focusing on who is right or wrong, we look at the cycle you get caught in, the emotions and needs underneath it, and how each of you contributes to the pattern. The goal isn't simply to argue less. It's to understand each other more deeply, repair what has been hurt, and create a relationship where both people can feel connected without losing themselves.



01. What is couples therapy and how can it help our relationship?






You don't have to wait until your relationship is in crisis to start couples therapy. Some couples come in after years of conflict or emotional distance, while others seek help because they can see a pattern developing and don't want it to become more entrenched. Couples counseling can be helpful when you're struggling with communication, trust, intimacy, recurring conflict or feeling disconnected from each other. It can also be a way to strengthen your relationship before problems become more difficult to change.



02. When should we go to couples therapy?


Yes. When couples have the same argument over and over, the real issue is often bigger than the topic they're fighting about. You may find yourselves caught in a predictable cycle of criticizing and defending, pursuing and withdrawing, shutting down or keeping score. Couples therapy can help slow that cycle down and uncover what is happening underneath it, so you can begin responding differently instead of having the same fight in a slightly different form.



03. Can couples therapy help if we keep having the same arguments?



Yes, but couples therapy isn't simply about learning better communication techniques. When partners don't feel heard, understood or emotionally safe, even a simple conversation can quickly turn into defensiveness, criticism or withdrawal. We can work on helping both partners stay present during difficult conversations, understand what the other person is actually trying to communicate, express needs more clearly, and repair when things inevitably go off track.


04. Can couples therapy help us communicate without fighting?




Yes. Couples can love each other and still begin to feel more like roommates than partners. Emotional distance, resentment, stress, unresolved conflict, changes in life circumstances, or years of avoiding difficult conversations can all affect connection and intimacy. Couples therapy can help you understand what has gotten in the way of feeling close and begin rebuilding emotional and physical connection in a way that feels genuine for both partners.



05. Can couples therapy help us reconnect when we've grown apart?




It can. Rebuilding trust after infidelity or another significant betrayal takes more than getting answers or promising that it won't happen again. Couples therapy can provide space to understand what happened, process the hurt, take responsibility, and gradually rebuild honesty and emotional safety. Sometimes the work is about repairing the relationship; sometimes it is about gaining enough clarity to understand what each person wants and what comes next.






06. Can couples therapy help rebuild trust after betrayal?




Yes. Couples don't have to know whether they want to stay together before beginning therapy. Sometimes the goal is to repair the relationship; sometimes couples need help understanding whether the relationship can change and what each person needs moving forward. Therapy can create a space to slow things down, move beyond blame, and gain more clarity about the relationship and the choices in front of you.





07. Can couples therapy help if one of us is considering separation?



You don't have to be in a particular type of relationship or have a particular problem for couples therapy to be worthwhile. Maybe you've tried talking things through on your own but keep ending up in the same place. Maybe one of you feels more disconnected than the other, or you're having trouble understanding each other's needs. Couples therapy can be useful whenever you feel stuck in patterns you don't know how to change and want help creating a healthier, more connected relationship.






08. How do we know if couples therapy is right for us?


Questions you may be asking...

Couples Therapy in Hermosa Beach, the South Bay & Los Angeles


I provide in-person couples therapy from my Hermosa Beach office for adults throughout the South Bay, including Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and El Segundo. I also offer online couples therapy to clients throughout California, including the greater Los Angeles area. Whether you're looking for a couples therapist in the South Bay or prefer the flexibility of online therapy, our work is tailored to what you're experiencing and what you want to change.



I’m a novice when it comes to receiving.
Giving has become my second expertise,
But giving alone without getting
Becomes soon a fatal disease.
If the intake valve is not opened
There’s no way to maintain a supply
There comes a point in a cycle of life
Where the out-going stream runs dry.
Straining out love from a vacuum
Is like drinking from the heart of a stone.
Try as we may, at the end of the day,
We’re exhausted, frustrated, alone.
‘Better to give than to receive’ we are taught
Yet another truth I’ve learnt just by living:
Only the soul with the grace to receive,
Excels in the fine art of giving.

- Dr James A. Forbes Jr.