Couples Therapy for Young Adults Navigating Trauma, Substance Misuse, and Cultural Expectations

Telehealth in Colorado and PSYPACT Participating States

Love Isn’t Always Easy,
but It Doesn’t Have to Hurt

Relationships are hard enough without the added impact of trauma, addiction, cultural expectations, and differing cultural values. Maybe you and your partner keep having the same arguments over and over, or trust has been broken and rebuilding that credit feels impossible. Maybe one or both of you are struggling with substance use, and it’s disrupting your connection.

If you feel stuck in cycles of miscommunication, resentment, or emotional distance, couples therapy can help you break free.

When is it Time for Couples Therapy?

  • You love each other but can’t seem to stop fighting.

  • Substance use, past trauma, or mental health struggles are impacting your relationship.

  • You feel emotionally disconnected but don’t know how to fix it.

  • You come from different cultural backgrounds, and it’s creating tension.

  • You want to build a healthy relationship but didn’t have good role models growing up.

  • You want to know if staying together is worth it or if it’s really time to call it quits.

How Can Couples Therapy Help?

I work with couples where trauma, substance use, or cultural differences play a significant role. Instead of focusing on surface-level fixes, you’ll get to the heart of what’s driving conflict and work toward real, lasting change. My approach is person-centered and strengths-based at it’s core. I meets each couple where they’re at and work collaboratively to determine what changes they want to make.

You are the expert of your own life—you are the captain of the ship; I'm just helping you sail it and get where you want to go.

My approach to couples therapy is an integration of the following evidence-based treatment modalities:

  • The way we show up in relationships is deeply influenced by our past experiences, attachment patterns, and unconscious beliefs about love and connection. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy helps partners uncover the deeper emotional wounds and relational patterns that may be driving conflict, disconnection, or unhealthy dynamics.

    In couples therapy, psychodynamic work helps by:

    • Exploring How Past Relationships Shape the Present – Unresolved pain from childhood or past relationships often plays out in current partnerships. Therapy helps bring awareness to these patterns.

    • Uncovering Unspoken Needs and Fears – Many conflicts arise from unmet emotional needs that partners struggle to express. Therapy helps both partners articulate their deeper desires and fears.

    • Breaking Cycles of Defensiveness and Blame – When partners react rather than reflect, they may repeat the same fights without resolution. Therapy helps slow things down, fostering understanding over reactivity.

    • Strengthening Emotional Intimacy – By creating space for vulnerability and honest communication, psychodynamic therapy helps couples build deeper trust and connection.

    Rather than focusing only on conflict resolution, psychodynamic couples therapy helps partners understand themselves and each other on a deeper level—leading to lasting change and emotional growth.

  • Many couples get stuck in rigid thinking, emotional avoidance, or destructive patterns that make it hard to grow together. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps couples step out of these cycles by teaching them how to respond to challenges with greater flexibility, mindfulness, and values-driven action.

    ACT in couples therapy helps by:

    • Breaking Free from Emotional Avoidance – Many couples struggle with expressing emotions out of fear of conflict or rejection. ACT helps partners learn how to sit with discomfort and communicate honestly.

    • Developing Psychological Flexibility – Instead of getting stuck in who’s right or wrong, ACT helps couples step back and ask, “What truly matters to us in this relationship?”

    • Clarifying Shared and Individual Values – Partners explore what they deeply care about and commit to actions that align with those values, even when emotions are difficult.

    • Changing the Relationship with Thoughts and Emotions – ACT teaches couples how to observe their thoughts without getting trapped in them, making space for connection rather than resentment.

    Rather than focusing on winning arguments or avoiding discomfort, ACT helps couples choose connection, honesty, and intentional action—regardless of the challenges they face.

  • At the core of every relationship struggle is a longing for connection, security, and emotional safety. When couples experience conflict, distance, or trust issues, it’s often because these core needs feel threatened. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) helps partners repair emotional bonds and build a stronger, more resilient relationship.

    In couples therapy, EFT helps by:

    • Identifying Negative Interaction Cycles – Every couple falls into patterns (e.g., one person withdraws, the other chases). EFT helps partners recognize these cycles and break free from them.

    • Creating a Safe Space for Vulnerability – Many couples struggle to express their deeper fears and emotions. EFT helps build a foundation where both partners feel safe to open up.

    • Strengthening Emotional Responsiveness – EFT helps couples move from reacting defensively to responding with understanding and care.

    • Healing Relationship Wounds – Whether from past betrayals, childhood attachment wounds, or unresolved pain, EFT helps partners repair and rebuild trust.

    EFT focuses on emotions and connection first, rather than just communication skills—leading to deeper intimacy, trust, and long-term relationship satisfaction.

  • For couples navigating cultural differences, intergenerational expectations, and systemic stressors, therapy isn’t just about communication—it’s about understanding identity, values, and the unique challenges of being in a cross-cultural relationship.

    Multicultural Therapy helps by:

    • Addressing Cultural Conflicts in Relationships – Many couples face tension when family expectations, cultural norms, or traditions clash. Therapy helps partners navigate these challenges with respect and understanding.

    • Recognizing the Impact of Racial Trauma and Systemic Stress – External pressures, such as discrimination, financial stress, or immigration challenges, can strain relationships. Therapy provides a space to process these experiences together.

    • Balancing Individual and Collective Identity – Some partners come from cultures that emphasize family duty, emotional self-control, or traditional gender roles. Therapy helps couples find a balance between honoring culture and supporting personal growth.

    • Navigating Bicultural and Multiracial Relationships – For couples with different cultural backgrounds, therapy helps explore how identity, traditions, and values shape the relationship and how to embrace differences without losing connection.

    Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all relationship model, multicultural couples therapy honors your lived experiences, cultural values, and the unique ways love and partnership show up in your life.

Areas of Specialty

Stuff they say you’re not supposed to talk about
— but we will

  • Substance use doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For many teens and young adults—especially those navigating trauma, family pressure, cultural stigma, or mental health challenges—it can become a way to cope with pain, numb out, or feel in control.

    If you come from a family or culture where addiction is seen as a moral failing, not a mental health issue, asking for help can feel almost impossible. Shame, secrecy, and fear of judgment can keep the cycle going—and make everyone feel even more alone.

    In therapy, we don’t just focus on the substance. We look at what’s underneath it—the pain, the patterns, the survival strategies—and work together to build healthier ways of coping. Whether you're struggling yourself or supporting someone who is, we'll explore tools that help you reduce harm, stay grounded, and take steps toward healing that actually sticks.

  • Trauma can shape the way you think, feel, and relate to others—even when you don’t realize it. For teens and young adults, it might show up as emotional overwhelm, disconnection, people-pleasing, shutting down, or self-sabotage. Sometimes, it doesn’t look like trauma at all—it just feels like something’s always “off.”

    For folks from marginalized communities, trauma is often layered—with systemic injustice, cultural silence, and intergenerational pain woven in. That kind of trauma doesn’t just live in the past—it lives in your body, your relationships, your sense of safety.

    In therapy, we work gently and intentionally to untangle that. Through body-based and emotionally focused approaches, we create space to process what’s happened, restore a sense of safety, and build resilience in a way that honors your culture, your story, and your pace.

  • You might feel stuck, numb, or disconnected—or like your brain won’t slow down and you’re constantly overwhelmed. Maybe you shut down. Maybe you overthink everything. Maybe both. Either way, it’s exhausting.

    If you’ve ever been told you’re lazy, too sensitive, or too much, you might have learned to hide how bad things really feel. Depression and anxiety in young people of color often don’t look like what people expect. They might show up as anger, fighting, lashing out, doing drugs, partying too much, overworking, or shutting down completely. Sometimes it gets labeled as “disrespectful,” “lazy,” or “out of control”—but underneath, it’s pain, fear, or pressure no one taught you how to name. They can also show up as burnout, isolation, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or never feeling like you’re “enough.”

    In therapy, we slow things down and make space for the feelings you’ve had to hold in. We’ll work on understanding your patterns, building emotional tools, and reconnecting with the parts of you that have been shut out or pushed aside. This isn’t about 'fixing' you—it’s about helping you feel safe in your own skin again.

  • ADHD isn’t just about focus—it’s about having a brain that works differently in a world that wasn’t built for it. For young people of color, especially those in families that value discipline, order, or emotional control, ADHD can be misunderstood as laziness, defiance, or “not trying hard enough.”

    You might find yourself zoning out, forgetting things, saying stuff you didn’t mean to, or crashing after bursts of energy. Maybe you overwork to hide it. Maybe you’ve been told you’re “too much” your whole life—or started using substances to quiet the noise.

    In therapy, we explore how your brain works—without labeling you or trying to make you fit into a mold. We build tools for focus, time, and emotion regulation—but we also work on releasing the shame. ADHD support is about more than just executive functioning—it’s about seeing yourself clearly and finally feeling understood.

  • Growing up between cultures can feel like constantly switching versions of yourself—what’s expected at home doesn’t always match what’s expected in the world. For teens and young adults of color, especially those from immigrant families, this can lead to deep confusion, isolation, and pressure to be everything for everyone.

    You might struggle with feeling “not enough” in any space—or carry guilt for wanting something different than what your family imagined for you. On top of that, the impact of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, or gender-based discrimination can make it even harder to feel safe, seen, or worthy.

    In therapy, we create space to unpack all of it—cultural identity, family expectations, intergenerational conflict, and systemic stress. You’ll have room to process what’s been passed down to you, explore who you are, and build a more grounded, confident relationship with your story.

  • How we learn to connect—or protect ourselves—in relationships often starts early. If you grew up with emotional distance, chaos, or pressure to perform instead of express, it makes sense if you struggle to trust people, open up, or feel safe being close to others.

    Attachment wounds don’t always look like fear—they can show up as pushing people away, getting “too close too fast,” emotional shutdowns, or constantly fearing you’re ‘too much’ or ‘not enough.’ Sometimes, relationships feel overwhelming. Sometimes, they feel impossible.

    In therapy, we explore those patterns with care and curiosity—not blame. You’ll learn how your early experiences shaped the way you relate to others, and how to build safer, more connected relationships—starting with the one you have with yourself.

  • Supporting a teen through substance use is hard—especially when no one talks about it and parents who have not gone through it just don’t understand. People might make you feel like you’re a bad parent, like you’re doing something wrong, when in reality, you’re doing everything you can—often in silence, often alone.

    Parents often carry guilt, shame, or fear of being judged, especially in families or cultures where mental health and addiction are taboo. It can feel like you’re failing, even when you’re trying your hardest to hold it all together.

    Parent coaching creates a space where you don’t have to have all the answers. Together, we’ll look at what’s underneath your teen’s struggles—like trauma, anxiety, peer pressure, or emotional overwhelm—and explore how you can support their healing without losing yourself in the process.

    You’ll learn tools to reduce conflict, rebuild trust, and communicate in ways that actually land. We’ll also talk about how to care for you—because your stress, grief, trauma, and fear deserve attention too. You don’t have to do this alone, and you don’t have to do it perfectly to make a difference. You just have to stay in the room—and we’ll figure it out together.