THERAPY FOR COUPLES & RELATIONSHIPS in west los angeles
strengthen COMMUNICATION, repair disconnection, and BUILD MORE SECURE bonds
Most couples don’t struggle because they lack love or effort—they get caught in patterns that keep them stuck and distant. If it were as simple as talking things through, you likely would have already solved your relationship’s biggest challenges. It’s time to explore not just what you’re saying, but what you’re protecting, needing, and longing for. Together, we will begin to create new patterns of connection—ones that feel safer, more responsive, and more secure.
Is your relationship not what it used to be?
When you pictured your life together, you imagined joy, commitment, and connection. Now, maybe you feel…
Disconnected from each other
Stuck in unhealthy cycles
Like different people from when you met
Like you’re walking on eggshells
More like roommates than partners
Judgier or more nit-picky than you’d like to be
Let down and unsure if you’ll make it through
IF YOU’RE HERE, you’re ready to make a change—TOGETHER
At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, couples & relationship therapy offers you a collaborative and personalized process to better understand each other and strengthen your relationship. Our work combines a safe, supportive therapeutic environment—where all partners feel heard and valued—with evidence-based interventions to help you reconnect, communicate more effectively, and navigate challenges as a team.
How couples & relationship therapy can help.
Change in a relationship doesn’t happen all at once—it builds over time through small shifts in how you communicate and relate to each other.
Couples and relationship therapy provides a space to slow interactions down, identify and make sense of patterns, and practice new ways of connecting—both in and outside of sessions. Over time, these shifts build on each other, helping you move through challenges with more clarity, attunement, and intention as a team.
Couples and relationships who work with a therapist at Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group notice they are able to:
Understand the deeper roots of their conflicts and navigate them with respect and flexibility
Approach challenges with curiosity, not defensiveness
Repair ruptures faster and with less lingering resentment
Make space for humor and lightness, even in hard moments
Use a shared toolkit of practical, usable strategies
Feel more emotionally and physically connected
The modalityEvidence-Based Couples & Relationship Therapy
Our therapists specialize in evidence-based therapies including:
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Drawing primarily from research on attachment theory, EFT is a couples therapy approach that emphasizes identifying interaction patterns that create distress within the relationship. As EFCT therapists, we’ll observe and explore these patterns with you and help you reduce emotional reactivity. We’ll help you express your underlying emotions, ask for your needs to be met, and practice responsiveness in order to create, restore, or strengthen your sense of security within the partnership.
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The Gottman Method is an approach to couples therapy that prioritizes communication, empathy, and respect. We’ll help you learn how to turn toward—rather than away from—your partner, create shared meaning and values within the relationship, nurture admiration for one another, problem solve more effectively, and accept relationship problems that can’t be solved.
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DBT is a skill-based modality that has been adapted for couples, including those considered high-conflict. Using DBT-informed couples therapy, we’ll help you understand the role of emotions in relationships (and communicate yours accurately), identify and share your relationship triggers, commit to stop making things in your relationship worse, build acceptance of yourself and your partner, become more present with each other, and create a lasting toolkit of skills to take with you on your relationship journey.
MEET THE TEAM
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Brooke Schwartz, LCSW
Founder & Therapist
Areas of expertise: perfectionism, anxiety, depression, first time in therapy, personality disorders, relationship and interpersonal challenges, and life transitions.
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Mitchell Hale, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: LGBTQIA+ issues, trauma symptoms and PTSD, OCD, body dysmorphia, anger, anxiety, career changes, critical self-talk, and depression
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Sara Arpiarian, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: anxiety, depression, relationship and interpersonal challenges, trauma, grief and loss, ADHD, adoption-related issues, parenting skills, and navigating life transitions.
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Sophie Elkins, MSW, ASW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: teen and young adult mental health, anxiety, perfectionism, body image, life transitions, self-esteem, trauma, couples, relationship dynamics, and effective communication strategies.
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Kaitlin Christy, AMFT, APCC
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: child, teen, and young adult mental health, emotion dysregulation, anxiety (OCD, panic, phobias), depression, self-esteem, family dynamics, play & art therapy, parent-child work, impulse control, ADHD, and personality disorders.
Reaching out means CHANGE HAS ALREADY STARTED.
Step 01
Schedule a consultation call so we can learn more about you and your relationship and answer any questions you have about starting therapy.
Step 02
Meet with your therapist altogether for a 60 minute intake session to share your story and set goals that will guide your therapy together.
Step 03
Get to work! Your therapist will meet with you together and occasionally individually in order to best help you and your relationship thrive.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Couples therapy can be helpful anytime you feel stuck, disconnected, or unsure how to move forward together. It’s not only for relationships in crisis—many couples come in when they notice recurring patterns, communication breakdowns, or a desire to feel closer and more understood.
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It’s common for partners to feel differently about starting therapy. Sometimes one person is more ready than the other, and that’s okay. The initial consultation call is not a commitment to begin therapy, but an opportunity to gauge readiness and fit without pressure to take a next step.
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Our job as therapists is not to take sides, but to highlight the validity in each of your perspectives as well as the dynamic playing out between you. The focus is on helping you both feel heard and supported while working toward healthier ways of relating.
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Sessions are a space to slow you down enough to identify what patterns are getting in the way. Your therapist will guide you in rehearsing new ways of expressing your needs and responding to each other, and set you up to practice what you’ve learned between sessions.
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Yes! Many couples come to therapy not because of frequent conflict, but because they want to feel more connected, discuss how they will handle potential issues before they arise, and dedicate a safe place they can touch base about how they are doing in order to stay bonded and aligned.
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You may notice fewer repeated conflicts, resolution happening more quickly, or a stronger sense of teamwork. Many partners feel more understood, more connected, and safer being vulnerable.