Susan Hartman Brenizer, M.A., LMFT

Couples Therapy

Please click home page above for more thorough description of services offered. Susan deals with all aspects of a couple's experience, from premarital to divorce couseling. She specializes in assisting couples to overcome the trauma of affairs and marital distress, and in building communication and conflict resolution.

• Premarital: This deals with problems couples are faced with during the initial stages of a relationship, prior to marriage. It includes commitment issues, which may be preventing a more fulfilled relationship.
• Sexuality: Counseling deals with challenges in the physical aspects of a relationship, including incompatibilities and a variety of stressors. Communication skills and self-expression are important during couples therapy, and self-esteem issues may be involved.
• Parenting: Discord in a family may appear where discipline becomes a problem, or where parents may have different opinions in raising their children. Learning disabilities and disorders increase stress and conflict.
• Separation: Couples therapy deals with the handling of a separation as an individual or a family. Issues of betrayal and depression are dealt with, as are the reasons behind the split.
• Divorce recovery: Therapy concentrates on getting an individual through this trying period and to enable the client to move forward.

Couples therapy may also deal with affair recovery, as well as with communication and conflict resolution.

Sessions take the form of either individual and/or couple sessions, where clients are encouraged to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions in a safe and non-judgmental environment. This honest and open sharing fosters good communication, allowing for built-up resentments and hurts to be dealt with in a supportive manner.

Through the acquisition of the skills necessary for effective communication, couples are better able to identify and deal with negative thought-patterns and behaviors, and proceed towards positive change and a stronger bond.

Centrally located in the Syracuse, NY area, couples therapy sessions are by appointment, and flexible times are available to suit clients' needs. Offices offer a private waiting room and secure parking. Call her today to schedule your couples therapy session.