Couples Therapy
What help does your relationship need?
Resolving conflict
Improving intimacy and connection
Taking the next step
Improving communication
Healing and building trust after infidelity
Maybe you are asking yourself:
Why do we always fight about the same things?
How do I better express and have my needs met?
How do we keep out physical connection alive and fulfilling?
Research has proven what we instinctively know. When we honour our common ground, our dignity and nurture wellbeing from a systemic perspective, our connections strengthen, our wellbeing grows and our shared purpose comes alive. The way of clarity is through the heart, the mind, and our relationships.
Relational difficulties manifest themselves from a variety of sources and origins. And like water, they will find their way out somehow. Our own and our partners' histories, do not exist in a silo. They are a living and changing space that impacts us individually and relationally. Our stories are shared, dynamic and evolving. It is not at all surprising that relationship problems occur as we navigate the challenges of life as best we can.
Healthy relationships don’t just help us feel loved. At their best, relationships provide respite from a world that has made us feel “less than”. Couples therapy is for people who want a better relationship but were not taught how.
This includes if you are single; you do not have to wait for a relationship to start. Therapy can help understand yourself so your future relationships feel healthier and more secure. If you are in a relationship, therapy can help you feel like you’re on the same team by learning to communicate better and manage conflict without it spiralling.
And as a bonus, couples therapy can benefit all your relationships, such as professional relationships and friendships. This is because the difference between relationships that last and ones that don’t often comes down to skills. And those skills can be learned.
Common Ground Psychology is a connected, compassionate space with sturdy, grounding support for your relationship.
Dr Vlatka Duric’s interest in relationships and couples therapy started some 25 years ago while working in gynaecological oncology. She developed experience in understanding that physical and mental health are closely intertwined and interconnected. Changes to physical health impact the individual but also their relationships.
Over the years, Vlatka has gained not just experience but advanced training in couples therapy modalities like the Gottman Method. She tailors her approach to your relationship needs whatever they may be.
Psychological Therapies available to Couples
Vlatka works with you online and includes the following psychological treatments (or therapies, sometimes referred to as psychotherapies) tailored to your needs:
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Close relationships can bring connection, safety, and support, yet they can also become places where patterns of conflict, misunderstanding, or emotional distance emerge over time. Couples may find themselves caught in recurring cycles of criticism, defensiveness, withdrawal, or feeling unheard, despite wanting greater closeness and understanding.
The Gottman Method is a structured and practical approach to couples therapy that focuses on strengthening communication, deepening friendship and emotional connection, and helping partners navigate conflict in more constructive ways. It supports couples to better understand one another’s inner worlds, respond more effectively during moments of tension, and build a stronger foundation of trust, respect, and intimacy. The Gottman Method is one of the most extensively researched approaches to couples therapy, with decades of research informing its development and effectiveness in supporting relationship satisfaction and stability.
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Our early experiences can shape the ways we respond within intimate relationships, particularly during moments of conflict, vulnerability, or disconnection. At times, longstanding emotional patterns or unmet needs may become activated within a relationship, leading couples to feel stuck in painful cycles that are difficult to shift.
Schema Therapy for Couples integrates attachment-focused and experiential approaches to help partners understand the deeper origins of these patterns and the emotional needs underlying them. Through this process, couples can begin to respond to one another with greater awareness, empathy, and emotional safety, rather than from reactive or protective coping styles. This approach aims to support healing within the relationship, strengthen secure connection, and foster more adaptive ways of relating to one another.
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When couples experience ongoing conflict, distance, or repeated misunderstandings, there is often a deeper longing beneath these interactions for closeness, reassurance, and emotional connection. Over time, partners can become caught in cycles of pursuing, withdrawing, or feeling alone within the relationship, even while deeply caring for one another.
EFT is an attachment-based approach that helps couples understand and shift these relational patterns by focusing on the emotions and unmet attachment needs underlying them. Through creating safer emotional experiences within therapy, couples can develop greater trust, responsiveness, and connection with one another. EFT has a substantial and growing evidence base and is widely recognised as an effective approach for strengthening attachment bonds and improving relationship satisfaction.
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Intimate relationships can strongly influence our sense of emotional and physical safety, particularly during times of stress, conflict, or disconnection. At times, couples may find themselves reacting automatically to perceived threats within the relationship, leading to patterns of misunderstanding, defensiveness, or difficulty feeling securely connected.
PACT is an integrative couples therapy approach developed by Stan Tatkin that draws on attachment theory, neuroscience, and an understanding of how the nervous system shapes relational experiences. It focuses on helping couples build greater safety, attunement, and co-regulation within the relationship, while strengthening their capacity to respond to one another with sensitivity and care. Through this process, couples can develop a more secure and resilient partnership, supporting deeper trust, intimacy, and emotional stability.
