Imago Relationship Therapy

When your partner REALLY listens to you, a disagreement need not become a fight. We'll use Harville & Helen Hendrix's communication techniques to listen to understand, rather than just waiting to fire back a rebuttal. So often, we aren't even fighting about the same thing. Having help to slow down and stay on the same track has made all the difference for couples' relationships. I have heard "I just wish we'd done this sooner," as I work with couples to re-build connection.

Imago relationship therapy (IRT) aims to equip couples with the tools necessary to relate to each other in healthier ways and reveal the emotional pathway formed in childhood that led them to their current situation. This form of therapy combines spiritual and behavioral techniques with Western psychological methodologies in order to assist couples in unveiling their unconscious components.

I have attended numerous conferences and talks by Harville Hendrix / Helen Lakelly Hunt on "Imago" Relationship Therapy

This is a specific kind of relationship therapy that is designed to help conflict within relationships. We learn about the individual's own past wounds and how it maybe affecting their parter/relationship. Through this process we learn about personal triggers that are impacting the relationship.

I work with couples using the couples dialogue, helping them to feel heard and understood, with the goal of engaging in healthy conflict and having a strengthened relationship.

While I do use other modalities for relationship therapy, such as Gottman and EFT, I find the techniques and exercises used in Imago therapy, which is best suited for helping clients take more control of their own healing process.

I engage in IMAGO relationship therapy often with couples to help them connect, attach, and communicate more effectively.

I have advanced training in Imago relationship since the early 1980s. I recently renewed my training in this method and am working towards my certification in this approach. I find Imago is very valuable in doing depth work with couples, helping partners build an intimate and loving space between them that feels nurturing, safe, and authentic. I also appreciate how simple the imago dialogue process is so any couple could learn this and use it to their benefit very quickly.

My favorite way of working with clients is through Imago because it fosters deep communication.

The goal of Imago Therapy is to help couples recognize and understand their unconscious patterns of behavior and communication, and to learn how to communicate in a more conscious and effective way. The therapist works with the couple to create a safe and supportive environment where they can explore their emotions and experiences, and develop skills to improve their relationship.

Imago relationship therapy (IRT) endeavors to equip couples with the communication skills necessary to relate to each other in healthy ways, while additionally revealing the emotional pathway formed in childhood that led them to their current relationship frustrations. This approach invites examining the conflict itself; encourages the couple co-create a satisfying solution, heal, and grow together.

I create an Imago profile for you so that you can understand what you each bring to the table and the mechanics of your interaction. Being able to understand each other in this way helps us to understand how to make the relationship work better.

There is a link between frustrations in adult relationships and our experiences growing up. Childhood feelings of abandonment, suppression or neglect will often arise in an intimate relationship. When partners meet wounds with defensiveness and reactivity it can overshadow the positives in a relationship and lead to feelings of disconnection, pain and dis-empowerment. Imago Relationship Therapy aims to help couples learn to shift out of the power struggle and into loving connection.

"Imago Relationship Therapy helps remove the blame, shame and criticism common in negative relationship patterns and transform your relationship into one full of understanding and deep connection. We teach you to understand your relationship triggers and reactive behaviors that may stem from unmet needs and how to respond to your partner in a healthy way that benefits you both (From Imago Relationships North America Website)."