“Dr. Ellison let us go slowly. Nobody was rushed to explain themselves, and we never felt we were being graded.”
Sinead B.Couples client
Our services
Every service is for two adults. Each one says who it helps, what the sessions are like, the method, and what it is not.
Couples therapy
For two adults who want to understand why the same conversations go wrong. Dr. Ellison slows an argument down, names each step of it, and helps you try a different step. Then she asks how it landed for each of you. She works from the Gottman Method, developed at the Gottman Institute, alongside what she hears from you.
80-minute sessions; Dr. Ellison sets the pace with you, with no set number of sessions
Not a way to decide who is right
Not a substitute for safety planning if either of you is afraid at home
Paid directly; how fees work is on its own page
Your individual session
In the first weeks each of you has one session with Dr. Ellison on your own. It is a chance to say how you see the relationship and what you want from it, and to ask what you would rather not ask in front of your partner. Before you speak she tells you what stays with her and what she brings back to the couple, so you decide what to share. She uses the Gottman Method's assessment, developed at the Gottman Institute, as a guide.
One session each, between the first and third couples sessions
She explains how it is handled before you share anything
Not individual therapy; it is part of the couples work
Paid directly; how fees work is on its own page
Before a big step
For couples facing a decision they see differently, or have not yet put into words. Sessions are for hearing each other out and for naming what each of you is afraid of, using the same method as the couples work. Dr. Ellison does not steer you toward a choice.
Dr. Ellison sets the pace with you, with no set number of sessions
Not a way to get your partner to agree
Paid directly; how fees work is on its own page
After a hard stretch
For couples who want to find out whether they can talk again. The first sessions are slower and spend more time on what each of you needs in order to feel safe in the room. Dr. Ellison works from the Gottman Method, developed at the Gottman Institute, at a pace you both can bear.
Dr. Ellison sets the pace with you, with no set number of sessions
Not a promise that the relationship continues
Not a substitute for safety planning if either of you is afraid at home
Paid directly; how fees work is on its own page
Through a life change
For couples whose life has shifted and whose old ways of dividing the work, the money or the time no longer fit. Sessions look at how the two of you decide things now, and try a different way of deciding. Dr. Ellison works from the Gottman Method, developed at the Gottman Institute.
Dr. Ellison sets the pace with you, with no set number of sessions
Not for a crisis that needs help today; see Crisis and resources
Paid directly; how fees work is on its own page
How it works
Your first three sessions
From the first message to the third session. After that, Dr. Ellison sets the pace with you.
Before you begin
One of you writes for both. You get the fee in writing and a link to the intake forms on the practice's portal.
Session one, together
Dr. Ellison asks what each of you wants and how the pattern looks from each side. You do not have to agree.
Session two, on your own
Each of you meets her alone, once. She explains beforehand what stays with her and what she brings back to the couple.
Session three, together
She says what she has seen, in plain words, and checks it with both of you. Then you agree where to start.
Client stories
In the room
“I expected to be told what I was doing wrong. Instead she asked what each of us needed and waited for the answer.”
Jinwoo L.Couples client
“The room is quiet and unhurried. We said things there that we had not been able to say at the kitchen table.”
Briana R.Couples client
Sample reviews.
Ready to write?
One of you can send the first message. Dr. Ellison replies on weekdays.