Couples Therapy in Perth
Restoring Intimacy, Trust and Connection
Tiffany Ha
Gestalt Psychotherapist
Perth, Western Australia
Why Come to Couples Therapy?
Couples often seek therapy when they experience:
- Betrayal of trust – through infidelity, secrecy, or broken promises.
- Lack of intimacy – emotional or physical distance that leaves one or both partners feeling unseen or rejected.
- Communication difficulties – avoidance, criticism, contempt, and defensiveness are among the biggest predictors of relationship breakdown.
- Ongoing conflict – repeated fights, ruptures that are never repaired, and escalating tension that leads to hurt and distress.
- Differences or incompatibilities – in values, needs, preferences, or life goals.
- Too much closeness or too much separateness – struggling to balance the need for connection with the need for individuation.
Often, when something isn’t working within a relationship, each person is thinking: “If only my partner would change, then we could be happy.” This drive to change the other person is usually a reflection of deeper needs. Once you both learn to name and communicate these innermost longings, you can work together toward a more satisfying and intimate relationship.
How Couples Get Stuck
Relationship patterns are powerful and self-reinforcing. Over time, you and your partner develop an intricate choreography of steps that you take without even thinking: one partner pursues, the other withdraws; one criticises, the other defends; one unleashes, the other restrains.
Many relational difficulties stem from attachment dynamics - the deep, often unconscious patterns we develop early in life about love, safety, and closeness. Each person brings a unique set of expectations to the relationship, as well as differences in personality, preferences, and communication style. These differences - which may have been alluring in the beginning - often become points of friction later on.
The tender and sometimes uncomfortable truth of relationships is that no one has the potential to hurt us as often or as intensely as our intimate partners.
What Happens in Couples Therapy
Couples therapy is a space to pause and look at what’s really happening between you and your partner. It is much easier to be reflective and gracious towards one another in the neutral space facilitated by the therapist. You’ll learn how to collaborate and avoid the “blame game”: rather than taking the stance of me vs. you, we take the stance of us vs. the issue.
Most couples attend between 6 and 20 sessions, depending on their needs. In our work together, you will learn to:
- Identify the pattern – what is your unique “dance,” and where do you get stuck?
- Share your inner experience – what activates you, what you need, and how you prefer to connect.
- Understand your partner – listen with curiosity rather than judgment, and hear the deeper need behind a request or protest.
- Build compassion and acceptance – turning toward each other instead of away.
- Imagine and build a better relationship – create new possibilities and more degrees of relational freedom. The old dance is no longer serving you!
An Inclusive Approach
Love and connection take many forms. My practice welcomes and affirms couples at any stage of their relationship including:
- Heterosexual couples
- Co-parents
- Queer and trans folk
- Kink and BDSM relationships
- Polyamorous and ethically non-monogamous relationship structures
- Culturally diverse couples
- Neurodivergence
- Sex positivity and sex work
Please note that, due to space limitations, sessions are limited to two people at a time.
My Therapeutic Approach
I draw on several modalities to support couples in understanding and transforming their relationships:
- Gestalt Therapy – a relational, experiential approach that emphasises awareness, dialogue, and how each person is shaped by their broader context.
- Gottman Method – practical, evidence-based strategies for strengthening partnership, managing conflict, and building lasting connection.
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) – helps couples identify and shift emotional patterns, creating deeper emotional safety and intimacy.
- Attachment Theory – explores how early experiences with caregivers shape our relationships in adulthood, influencing the way we give and receive love.
If you're ready for a more satisfying, enlivening and secure relationship, reach out via phone or email to book your first couples therapy session today.
Tiffany Ha
Counsellor
Gestalt Psychotherapist
Phone: 0401 978 003
Email: [email protected]
Mount Lawley Counselling Centre
13 Alvan Street
Mt Lawley (Perth), WA 6050