Most couples don’t arrive in therapy because they’ve stopped caring. They arrive because the same conflict keeps returning in a different outfit — and neither of you can find the way out of it anymore.
How the work is structured
Early sessions typically draw on the Gottman Method — a structured, research-based approach to identifying the specific patterns keeping you stuck: the conflicts that never resolve (gridlock), the ways bids for connection get missed, and the communication habits that quietly erode goodwill. This phase is about making the pattern visible and building workable tools for conflict before it escalates.
From there, the work typically moves into Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and trauma-informed approaches — going underneath the pattern to the attachment injuries and nervous-system responses that drive it. This is where longer-standing relational dynamics — the ones that predate the relationship, sometimes by decades — get addressed directly, rather than managed around.
What this looks like in practice
- Sessions typically follow the Gottman Method’s structured intake protocol: an initial joint session together, followed by an individual session with each partner separately, before returning to a couples format for the ongoing work
- Delivered via telehealth — video or phone
- No fixed number of sessions; pace is set by what’s actually being worked through, not a program length
- $180 per session. Couples therapy is not typically Medicare-rebateable, as Medicare’s Better Access scheme funds individual mental health treatment rather than relationship counselling.
Is this for you?
This approach suits couples dealing with recurring conflict, disconnection, a specific rupture (an affair, a betrayal, a major life transition), or a relationship that has gone quiet rather than loud. It is not couples mediation and it is not a substitute for individual crisis support — if either of you is in immediate crisis, please contact emergency crisis services (such as 000, Lifeline 13 11 14 or Mental Health Emergency Response Line on 1300 555 788).
Ready to start? Send a referral request below, or email david@etherapyaustralia.org directly. After you submit, we’ll send a short intake form by email — once that’s completed, we’ll be in touch to arrange your first session.