Couples Therapy
You Traded the Sentence for an Easier One
One of you started to say the real thing last night and finished it as a question about Thursday.
The other one answered about Thursday.
The trade goes both directions now, several times a day.
Neither of you is doing it on purpose.
Your House Kept Running the Whole Time
What changed was the shape of the load.
A job started asking for more, or a baby arrived, or the last kid moved out and the house went quiet.
You absorbed it the way you absorb everything, by dividing it up until every piece landed somewhere.
It worked well enough that it became the conversation.
You Can Split the Work Perfectly and Still Go Quiet
Running a household together and reaching each other are two different skills.
Only one got practice these last few years.
Your talking narrowed to what had to be decided.
The rest went unsaid long enough that saying it now would feel like starting something.
You’ll Both Get to Tell It Your Way
You’ll each arrive with an accurate account of the same few years.
Neither account is the whole thing.
A lot of the early time goes to getting both versions out loud, which takes longer than either of you wants.
The slowness is where the work is.
The One Person in the Room Who Isn’t in Your Marriage
Dr. Brent Powell, LPC, does the couples work at Sageberry.
He’s the only clinician here who does.
His job is to hear both of you accurately and to say the part neither of you can say about your own side.
He keeps it even, so you’ll both feel heard, and you’ll both get asked something you’d rather answer later.
You Two Pick the Room
You’ll meet in the New Albany office, where he’s full-time, or on video anywhere in Mississippi.
Plan on about an hour.
You’re Rebuilding More Than the Schedule
Part of what you’re after is trust, the kind that comes from being answered when you say something real.
Part of it is closeness, last in line behind everything with a deadline on it.
The rest is practical: a way to take the next big change on as a pair, with the hard part said out loud.
One of You Finishes the Sentence
Somewhere in here, one of you starts the real sentence in Dr. Powell’s office and gets to the end.
The other one answers what was said.
Later, it happens at home, with nobody in the room but the two of you.
And when the load changes shape again, you’ll divide up the work and still say the rest of it out loud.
Start With a Call Neither of You Has to Prepare For
We start with a complimentary 15-minute call.
Both of you can be on it, or one of you can call first and bring the other later.
If one of you also wants an hour that’s just yours, individual counseling is here, too.
Call the office or sign up online.