Couples Therapy

My primary specialty is couples therapy!

Are you feeling disconnected from the person you're closest to? It can be difficult to know how to move forward in these moments of disconnect. I specialize in working with couples that are struggling to communicate with one another and may be feeling a sense of emotional distance or relationship strain. Often, this strain is complicated by education, career, parenting, or extended family stress.

I am a highly relational therapist, so I help people understand their patterns, strengthen existing relationships, and find balance in the most important parts of their lives. Sessions with me are engaging, focused on learning/practicing the skills that will help you accomplish the goals you set for therapy. We won't just talk about issues, we analyze patterns in detail, identify new approaches, and develop crucial skills you can apply immediately.

My work with couples is both practical and direct. I want clients to leave each session with a clear take-home message, feeling like they've learned a new skill they are ready to implement at home. I view my role as a couples therapist as providing support to strengthen the dynamic you've already built together. These are the reasons why couples who work with me spend our sessions talking more to each other than to me. Although I'll be here to support you each step of the way, most of the time, it isn't really me you've been hoping to talk with.

I take an approach that is grounded in theory and well-supported evidence-based practices for improving relationship quality, romantic satisfaction, and mental health. I draw from attachment theory and use intervention techniques primarily from the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT), Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, Gottman Method Couple Therapy, and mindfulness-based approaches to interpersonal relationships.

In addition to my clinical work with couples, I have devoted my academic career to understanding how romantic conflict impacts mental health and family systems. See my academic work page for more information about this background.

Discernment Counseling

A couple sitting back-to-back on a bed, looking upset.

Struggling to decide whether to stay together?

It's difficult to feel uncertain about the future of your relationship. Deciding whether to stay together or pursue separation/divorce can be one of the most daunting decisions of a person's life. I'm here to support couples to find and implement healthy next steps in their relationship.

Discernment Counseling is a unique, short-term approach to support couples with mixed agendas. If one partner wants to stay, and the other is considering leaving, discernment work is likely to be appropriate and beneficial. It provides a supportive environment with a couple therapist to help you explore possibilities thoroughly, with openness and nonjudgment. You deserve to feel confident when making a decision like this.

Here's how it works:

Intake: Couple meets with therapist for about two hours to share their relationship story. How did you meet? What drew you to each other? What worked well? When did things change? What have you tried up until this point?
Discernment Sessions: 90-minute sessions start and end with everyone together, but for most of each session partners will meet with the therapist alone to explore three potential outcomes for the couple relationship: (1) committing to couples therapy for 6 months to work on the relationship, (2) committing to a healthy separation, or (3) returning to how things have been ("maintaining the status quo"). During these sessions, I ask this guiding question: Are you willing, able, and motivated to work on the relationship? If you answer "no" to any piece of the question, we explore that answer in-depth. At the end of each session, each partner reflects on what they learned in their individual meeting and decides whether to agree to another session of discernment.
Decision: After 1-5 total sessions, partners share their decisions. We will discuss next steps that are most appropriate based on your decision, and I will provide referrals as necessary. Some couples choose to continue with me for couple therapy or co-parenting support, others may choose another therapist for a "fresh start," and many decide to seek individual therapy support regardless of the outcome.

If you think Discernment Counseling could be right for you and your partner, please consider scheduling a free consultation (link below).

Brock Rigsby, MS

Couples Therapy

My primary specialty is couples therapy!

Think we might be a good fit?

Discernment Counseling

Struggling to decide whether to stay together?

Couples Therapy

My primary specialty is couples therapy!

Think we might be a good fit?

Discernment Counseling

Struggling to decide whether to stay together?

This website uses cookies.