Couples & Relationships · El espacio entre nosotros
Every relationship has a space between two people. It can fill with distance and old arguments, or it can become the place where you meet each other again.
Love is rarely the problem. Most couples who reach out still care deeply about each other. What they have lost is a way to reach each other, especially when they are hurt, stressed, or afraid. Couples therapy is a space to slow down, understand what is really happening between you, and choose a different way forward, together.
These are some of the most common reasons couples come to therapy. If you see yourselves here, you are not alone.
The same argument on repeat, conversations that escalate in seconds, or feeling like you speak two different languages.
Living like roommates, less curiosity about each other, and a quiet loneliness even when you are together.
Rebuilding after an affair, secrets, or broken promises, and deciding together what repair would look like.
Mismatched needs, less touch or closeness, and difficulty talking openly about desire and connection.
A new baby, a move, a new job, an empty nest, illness, or retirement. Big changes can shake even strong couples.
When pressure from outside the relationship starts to show up as tension inside it.
Different parenting styles, blended families, in-laws, and protecting your partnership while raising a family.
Bicultural and bilingual couples navigating different traditions, expectations, and languages. Sessions are available in English and Spanish.
Many couples fall into a familiar loop. One partner reaches out harder, with more questions, more pressure, more criticism. The other pulls back, going quiet, shutting down, or leaving the room. The more one reaches, the more the other retreats, and the more the other retreats, the harder the first one reaches.
Neither person is the villain. Both are trying to protect the relationship, and themselves. The loop becomes the problem, not the people in it.
Instead of asking who is right, we look at the loop you both get caught in, and how each of you is trying, in your own way, to protect the relationship.
Mindfulness helps partners pause, notice what they feel before reacting, and hear what is underneath the words.
Learning to apologize, forgive, and rebuild trust in small, consistent ways that both partners can feel.
Everyday habits of connection, such as check-ins, appreciation, and time together, that keep you close after therapy ends.
Research-based reading on the topics couples ask about most, in English and Spanish.
Amor, deudas y recibos secretos: por qué las peleas por dinero golpean tan fuerte a las parejas
Why money fights predict trouble, what couples are really arguing about, and how to handle money as partners.
El mito de "una vez por semana": lo que la ciencia dice realmente sobre el sexo en las relaciones de pareja
Frequency, desire gaps, and why how you talk about sex matters more than hitting a number.
¿Todos están siendo infieles? La verdad sobre la infidelidad (y si el amor puede sobrevivir a ella)
How common infidelity really is, what counts as cheating, and whether a relationship can recover.
A mindful practice to try this week
It sounds simple, but feeling truly heard, even for five minutes, can change the temperature of a whole week.
Couples therapy is Tier One clinical therapy, which may be covered by insurance. All sessions are provided by Dr. Karina Rieke, PhD, LMHC-D, licensed in New York, Florida, and Nevada, in English or Spanish.
Couples therapy is not the right fit when someone in the relationship feels unsafe, threatened, or controlled. If that is your situation, individual support comes first. In the US you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (or text START to 88788), and in an emergency call 911.
Book a first session together through Alma or Headway, or send me a message with any questions.