Couples and Marriage Counseling in New York City and ConnecticutDr. Diez practices Terry Real's Relational Model for working with couples who wish to: a) improve their relationship in general or specific areas (i.e., collaboration, intimacy, extended family conflict)b) discern whether to continue together, formalize their commitment or go separate waysc) break up or divorce in a kind and collaborative manner.d) prepare for a new phase in the relationship (premarital counseling, family planning, parenting, taking care of the elderly)
Relating better to your partner starts with understanding them. Get a quick snapshot of how healthy your boundaries and self-esteem are—especially during conflict—in this free assessment:
Conflict is an intrinsic aspect of any substantive relationship. For individuals experiencing significant levels of conflict that all too often interferes with their ability to enjoy life close to each other, Couples counseling or Marriage counseling is a desirable choice. This type of counseling or therapy can help them discover new ways of relating, communicating, understanding, and appreciating one another.
Couples seek counseling for multiple reasons, such as, to work on improving the relationship, to uncouple in a kind, non-adversarial manner, or to discern whether to remain together or discontinue the relationship (the latter is sometimes referred to as "discernment counseling".) While Couples/Marriage counseling by an expert may help a couple rediscover the joy in their relationship, remaining together is not the only, nor necessarily the best, outcome for all couples seeking professional help. Sometimes, the therapy can facilitate “letting go” of a relationship that is no longer satisfying, sustainable, or beneficial.
Most often the outcome of couples counseling cannot be determined beforehand. In most cases, though, the outcome (or decisions made after consultations with couples therapists) becomes more deliberate, manageable, and less catastrophic than those separations or divorces decided or executed without professional guidance.
Rafael Botero, "The Dancers"
Dr. Diez obtained doctoral and post-doctoral training in most major lines of psychotherapy and couples counseling. She has two decades of general psychotherapy practice and ten years of experience practicing couple counseling and dyads coaching. She is certified as a couple therapist by the William Alanson White Institute in New York City, and has also trained in Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy, the most effective and speedy model for couples' work. In this model, the work is intensive and aimed to effect quick changes in the couples' interactions.
Couple Counseling: How does it work?
● Dr. Diez is trained as a Relational Life Therapist*. As such, she aims to quickly assess the main roadblocks affecting couples' interactions and seeks to effect tangible changes on them. Unlike many therapists concerned with "neutrality", her approach is frank, direct, and actively participative, focusing on what or who has more weight in the recurrence of the problem at hand. Dr. Diez addresses kindly and candidly the couple's deleterious patterns of behavior and provides her clients with specific guidelines to change them. ● This work starts in the first session. The intensive nature of this model requires, in the early stage, more time than the traditional 60 minutes offered by non-specialized couples therapists who are simply adopting an individual therapy framework to their practice with couples, often leading to unsuccessful results. ● Because of the intensive nature of this work, Dr. Diez's first consultation lasts 75 to 90 minutes. This length of sessions allows faster identification of root causes and a faster route to change. In her practice, Dr. Diez encounters that after the second or third session the couples have a better grasp of the dysfunction afflicting them, and proceed to implement important changes. At that point, the sessions become shorter and less frequent. ● The typical number of sessions couples attend under this model of work is around 7, varying according to the reason for consultation and nature of the conflict. Premarital and Discernment Counseling typically requires 3 to 5 sessions, while entrenched disputes in long-term couples require a sustained commitment to the relational work guided by a professional. Some couples choose to pursue in-depth work and continue the work beyond the crisis or triggering issue de-jour, which solidifies the relationship further.
*For more on Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy visit the FAQ section at the bottom of this page.
FAQs - Answers to frequent questions● Dr. Diez does not take insurance as a form of payment. She is an out-of-network provider whose services are paid directly on the date of the consultation via Zelle or Venmo.● Dr. Diez provides billing for you to submit to your plan for reimbursement. Insurances offering out-of-network coverage (PPO) typically reimburse intimate partners for CPT Code 90847 (Family Therapy.) If budget is a concern and you wish to take advantage of your insurance plan, please call your insurance directly to inquire about their reimbursement schedule before making an appointment. ● Dr. Diez does not warranty the results or outcome of her work with individuals or couples. She strives to provide the best possible service, yet the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic and coaching interventions depends on multiple factors that cannot be controlled for, nor foreseen, by even the most competent practitioners. In fact, in the medical and psychological fields, any promise of therapeutics success or effectiveness is a breach of ethical guidelines. The most a mental health professional can offer is superlative competence by way of verifiable credentials, specific training, extensive experience, and credible reviews of patients, clients, or colleagues.