Transform Your Relationship with Couples Therapy in Seattle
Do you and your partner struggle to hear each other out?
Trauma-informed couples therapy for regulated nervous systems and better attunement.
Why Consider Couples Counseling?
Is communication suffering in your relationship?
As conflict arises, do you and your partner have a hard time being vulnerable so that you can express your needs to one another?
Would you benefit from learning tools to help you stay regulated during disagreements?
Most of us were not taught how to engage in healthy conflict; rather, we were given the message that caretaking, aggression, avoidance, and withdrawal are appropriate ways to handle differences. Because of this, we are likely to brush issues under the rug—instead of resolving them—until the next big fight.
Usually, when couples seek counseling, it’s because they have entered an unsustainable cycle of conflict in which neither partner feels heard or seen, leading to a sense of disconnection and a lack of intimacy. As fears of abandonment become underground patterns, couples feel disconnected from themselves and one another. This can lead to ambivalence in the relationship, causing many couples to wonder how to get back to the spark of their early days together.
Our couples therapist will help you navigate the communication breakdown and emotional distance that leads to ambivalence and conflict.
$260/50-minute couples session
$320/75-minute couples session intake
Maybe Your Relationship Is Strong, Yet You’re Still Curious About Counseling…
You don't have to wait for a crisis to invest in your relationship. More couples are turning to therapy as preventive care to learn how to build the tools to navigate conflict before it arises, not after. Whether you’re preparing for a big milestone together, like getting engaged, growing your family, or making a major life decision, or want to protect the way you communicate, couples counseling helps set your relationship up to thrive.
At Sona Collective, our experienced couples therapist specializes in PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy), which is a unique counseling method developed by Dr. Stan Tatkin. PACT blends attachment theory, developmental neuroscience, and arousal regulation to help partners build secure, lasting relationships rooted in mindfulness and parts work principles. Whether you are hoping to bolster communication, navigate cyclical issues, or increase intimacy in your relationship, our approach to couples therapy offers both of you a chance to feel heard and affirmed in your relationship.
-
We aren’t given a blueprint for navigating conflict.
In a perfect world, our relationships become the container in which we get to work through and resolve our early attachment wounds from childhood. Because of this, nearly every partnership has the potential to challenge and trigger each partner. It is very easy for us to project unhealed emotional injuries onto our partner, which is an issue made more complicated by the fact that most of us were not taught how to set boundaries and communicate our needs effectively. Whether we mimic the same unhealthy patterns that we observed in our families of origin or are influenced by the media, which normalizes unhealthy relationship behaviors, it can be scary to take real accountability for our role in an interpersonal conflict.
At the same time, we are also raised with unrealistic expectations of what a “perfect” relationship looks like in the media. Conditioned by a culture of happily-ever-after narratives, we are inclined to overlook just how much ongoing maintenance a healthy relationship requires. Therefore, instead of doing the work it takes to make our partnership thrive, we may buy into the myth that there is a better and easier relationship out there for us.
Though many people seek guidance via self-help books and podcasts, couples cannot typically find lasting resolutions with a one-size-fits-all approach. Our couples therapist customizes the counseling process to the unique needs of each couple, taking into consideration specific concerns, goals, and communication styles.
-
In the safe, nonjudgmental space of couples counseling, you will experience the transformative support of a third-party professional who will help you articulate your inner experience to your partner in a healthy, constructive way. We want to show you how to avoid cycling through the same conflict repeatedly by providing you with customized tools and psycho-education on self-soothing, co-regulation, and communication so that you can move through the “stuck” areas of your relationship.
Couples therapy at Sona Collective is available for couples of all experiences and backgrounds. Taking an affirming, culturally aware approach to counseling, we welcome multicultural/biracial couples, LGBTQIA+ couples, and those in ENM partnerships.
-
The main goal of couples therapy is to bring you and your partner(s) to a state of equilibrium and safety. However, we have noticed that sometimes “security” can be misconstrued as homeostasis in a relationship, meaning that while there’s a sense of comfort and familiarity within the partnership, there is also a lack of eros (meaning desire or passion).
We want to help you communicate your needs kindly and effectively while maintaining a loving connection, which we believe is essential for sustaining a long and healthy relationship. By shifting out of co-dependence, our couples therapist will help you foster a sense of inter-dependence and self-fulfillment fueled by your authentic desires and values.
-
Our couples therapist is a trauma-informed and relational couples therapy specialist who draws from holistic and somatic therapy approaches. Using PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy), you will develop more awareness around the neurobiology of conflict, intimacy, attachment styles, and relational dynamics that impact the way you and your partner relate to one another. Incorporating aspects of mindfulness and somatic awareness will help you improve your communication skills so that both of you feel seen and heard in the therapy office.
Unsure if Couples Therapy in Seattle is Right for You?
What if my partner doesn't want to participate in couples therapy?Counseling requires us to access and share our most vulnerable parts, so resistance is a natural part of the process. Fortunately, our therapists aim to create an empathetic yet objective, nonjudgmental atmosphere where couples can let their truth shine.
That said, not everyone is mentally and emotionally available for this process, so trying to “force” someone to open up and share is not effective. If you’re noticing an urge to control your partner’s responses, it might be time to focus on embodying your power toward your growth and healing. After all, waiting for someone else to change is often a painful way of avoiding doing your own work.
If you would like to start with yourself first by pursuing individual therapy, our team of somatic and trauma-focused therapists is here to help.
What if therapy doesn't work and we end up separating?The job of a couples counselor is not to force partnerships to stay together when the dynamic is no longer working, but rather to help couples foster insight and effective strategies for creating a fulfilled life. For some couples, this means finding a way to separate consciously.
Even if you and your partner ultimately decide to separate, learning to let go of the relationship with agency, compassion, and self-love is still a win.
What if my partner and I already have a solid relationship?If your relationship is in a good place, that’s great news! Even so, couples therapy can help you avoid falling into unhealthy habits down the road. The regulated, happy moments in a relationship are often the best time to build strategies for handling conflict, set shared goals for the future, explore a more robust and fulfilling sex life, and develop sustainable ways to access play and joy, even when life gets hard.
You can think of couples therapy as preventive wellness. Loss, trauma, major life transitions, and everyday stressors are often unavoidable, and they can quietly strain even a strong relationship. Couples therapy gives you the support and strategies to navigate these outside pressures together, so they don’t have to come between you.
Benefits of Couples Therapy in Seattle
By engaging in couples counseling, you and your partner can expect to develop the following:
Learn how to break your “stuck” patterns in arguments
Learn how to regain understanding and compassion towards one another and find ways to increase intimacy and connection
Learn about and understand your own and your partners’ attachment styles
Learn to co-regulate
Learn how to create a sustainable and securely functioning relationship rooted in the principle of interdependence
Learn how to repair well
At their best, relationships are vehicles for self-transformation and self-actualization. By learning to shift your mindset from one oriented around blame and resentment toward one that is collaborative and focused on working together, your relationship will strengthen and anchor you in both the high and low moments you share as a couple. With ongoing commitment and support, you can learn how to express your wants and needs effectively to create greater intimacy and connection in your relationship.
Check out our blog to learn more about couples therapy.What to Expect
Getting StartedSchedule a Consultation Call
We offer complimentary consultation calls to all new clients. We’ll ask you about issues you are currently experiencing in your relationship and describe our therapeutic style. If, for some reason, we determine that it’s not the best match, we’ll provide other recommendations. If it feels like a good match, we’ll go ahead and schedule your intake.
Preparing for Your SessionsComplete Paperwork
All paperwork and payment methods will be filled out electronically. It’s a quick process and should take no more than 10-15 minutes. Please fill this out before we meet for the first time. If we’re meeting virtually, you’ll get a separate email with a telehealth link from us.
Creating a ContainerYour Intake
Couples therapy intake sessions cover as much of your shared history as possible. Intakes are more structured than other sessions; we take detailed notes to focus on where you’ve been and the direction you’d like to go. Sharing so much of your history within a short amount of time can feel like a lot, so be sure to schedule some time for self-care following the session. You have the choice of having either 50-minute or 75-minute couples therapy sessions in our Seattle office.
Couples Therapy FAQs
-
We accept credit, debit, and HSA cards. We will request that you provide your payment information in a secure client portal before our intake so that we can charge you upon completion of our session.
Alternatively, we are happy to run your payment through our out-of-network program, called Thrizer, if you believe you have benefits. You will store your credit card and insurance information in this portal to get reimbursed without the hassle of paperwork.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
We’re an out-of-network provider, which means we do not bill your insurance company directly, but we use a service called Thrizer to check your out-of-network benefits before you start therapy. Simply enter your insurance information here, and Thrizer will provide a detailed breakdown of your coverage, including your deductible, out-of-network reimbursement rate, and estimated out-of-pocket costs. If you are eligible, we will run all future payments through this program so you don’t have to deal with the paperwork, and you’ll receive reimbursement almost immediately.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Most couples begin seeing improvements in communication and connection within 8-12 weekly sessions, though deeper relational patterns often require 4-6 months of consistent work. Couples therapy isn’t about “fixing” your relationship quickly; it’s about building new skills for co-regulation, learning to navigate conflict differently, and addressing underlying attachment wounds that may have developed over the years. The timeline depends on how long patterns have been entrenched and both partners’ commitment to practicing new tools between sessions.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
We request at least 48 hours’ advance notice if you wish to cancel or reschedule your session.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Our Seattle office is located at 1811 Queen Anne Ave N., Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98109.
We also offer virtual therapy throughout Texas and Washington for couples who prefer online sessions.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Schedule a complimentary consultation call to discuss what brings you to therapy and determine whether our approach is the right fit. If it feels like a good match, we’ll schedule your 75-minute couples therapy intake session to begin building your personalized treatment plan.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
We typically recommend planning for a 75-minute intake session to get started and 50-minute couples therapy sessions after that. If you prefer 75-minute sessions ongoing, we offer those as well.
$260/50-minute session
$320/75-minute session
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Unlike traditional couples therapy that focuses primarily on communication skills, we work with your nervous systems and attachment patterns through a trauma-informed lens. We help you understand how your individual trauma histories show up in your relationship and teach co-regulation skills so you can stay connected during conflict rather than getting hijacked by fight-or-flight responses. Our approach addresses not just what you’re arguing about, but why your nervous systems get dysregulated with each other, creating lasting change beyond better communication techniques.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Therapy is most effective when you’re genuinely ready to do the work of healing and open to exploring body-centered approaches. Our complimentary consultation helps determine if our trauma-informed, somatic approach aligns with what you’re seeking, and we will be honest about whether we’re the right fit or can recommend other resources.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Your first session is a 75-minute intake where we’ll explore each of your histories, current challenges, and what you hope to achieve through therapy. This structured session helps us understand where you’ve been and create a direction for our work together. We encourage you both to schedule self-care time afterward, as sharing your story can feel vulnerable.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
We specialize in ketamine-assisted therapy, EMDR and somatic therapy for trauma, PTSD, treatment-resistant depression and anxiety. Our approach is body-centered, trauma-informed, and nervous system-informed, working with adults who are seeking genuine transformation rather than just symptom management.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
-
Psychobiological is a fancy way to say it looks at our physical responses when we are getting activated and when we are shutting down. It teaches us to “learn how to deal with each other” by reading each other's body language and physical cues for distress.
We learn to better understand and read your partner, not change them. PACT heavily focuses on our attachment and what we each learned from our family of origin. We all learned “rules” regarding emotions and relationships from our families, and now we have to make it work with someone who grew up with a different set of rules and expectations.
To schedule a consultation call, please use this booking link.
Work with Us