Couples Counseling in Naples, Estero & Fort Myers
Every relationship hits rough patches. When communication breaks down and you feel more like roommates than partners, our Gottman-trained and EFT-certified therapists in Naples, Estero, and Fort Myers can help you find your way back to each other.
What Relationship Struggles Look Like
Relationships rarely fall apart in one dramatic moment. More often, the disconnect builds slowly -- a pattern of small misunderstandings, unspoken resentments, and missed bids for connection that gradually creates a wall between two people who once felt close. You might find yourselves having the same argument over and over, each time ending in frustration without resolution. Or maybe the arguments have stopped altogether, replaced by a quiet distance that feels just as painful.
For couples living in Naples, Estero, Fort Myers, and throughout Southwest Florida, relationship stress can be intensified by the pressures of daily life -- managing careers, raising children, navigating finances, caring for aging parents, or adjusting to retirement and the lifestyle shifts that come with living in Collier County or Lee County. Seasonal residents face the added challenge of maintaining connection through transitions and time apart. Whatever the circumstances, when your relationship is struggling, it colors everything else in your life.
Common signs that couples counseling could help include frequent or escalating arguments, feeling unheard or dismissed by your partner, loss of emotional or physical intimacy, difficulty making decisions together, trust issues or infidelity, growing apart around values or life goals, and the sense that you are walking on eggshells to avoid conflict. You might still love each other deeply but feel stuck in patterns you cannot break on your own. That is exactly what couples therapy is designed to address.
Is Couples or Marriage Counseling Right for You?
Whether you think of it as couples counseling or marriage counseling, the goal is the same: getting your relationship back on track with the help of a trained therapist. You do not need to be on the brink of separation to benefit. If any of the following feel familiar, working with a therapist together could help:
- ✓ The same arguments keep coming back without ever reaching resolution
- ✓ You feel emotionally distant or disconnected from your partner
- ✓ Communication has broken down -- conversations turn into fights or get avoided entirely
- ✓ Trust has been damaged by infidelity, dishonesty, or broken promises
- ✓ You are considering separation or divorce and want to explore all options first
- ✓ A major life transition -- a move, new baby, retirement, or loss -- is putting strain on the relationship
If your partner is not yet ready for couples work, individual therapy can help you start making positive changes on your own -- and often, when one partner begins growing, the other becomes more open to joining. If relationship strain is affecting your mood or energy, our depression counseling services may also be relevant. And for couples whose daily stress is spilling into the relationship, our stress management resources can complement couples work.
Our Treatment Approach
At Florida Coast Counseling, our couples therapists use approaches grounded in decades of relationship research. We do not take sides or assign blame. Instead, we help both partners understand the patterns that keep them stuck and build new, healthier ways of connecting.
The Gottman Method, based on over 40 years of research by Drs. John and Julie Gottman, is one of the most thoroughly studied approaches to couples therapy. In his landmark research, Gottman demonstrated the ability to predict divorce with over 90% accuracy by observing specific interaction patterns (Gottman, 1994, What Predicts Divorce?). The method focuses on strengthening friendship and fondness between partners, managing conflict constructively rather than destructively, and creating shared meaning in the relationship (Gottman & Silver, 2015, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work). Tracy Onal, our certified Level 2 Gottman Therapist, uses this framework to help couples identify the "Four Horsemen" -- criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling -- and replace them with healthier communication patterns.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), another cornerstone of our couples work, helps partners understand the deeper emotional needs driving their conflicts. Most arguments are not really about the dishes, the schedule, or the spending. They are about feeling unseen, unvalued, or insecure in the relationship. Developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, EFT helps couples access and express these vulnerable emotions, creating a stronger, more secure bond (Johnson, 2004, The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy). A meta-analysis found that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery through EFT, with results that hold over time (Johnson et al., 1999, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy).
Which Approach Is Right for Your Relationship?
| Approach | Best for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Gottman Method | Communication patterns, conflict management, rebuilding friendship | Identifies destructive patterns and replaces them with research-backed skills for connection |
| Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) | Emotional disconnection, attachment wounds, feeling unseen or insecure | Helps partners access deeper emotions and create a more secure bond |
| Solution-Focused Therapy | Specific relationship goals, shorter-term work, building on existing strengths | Focuses on what is already working and helps couples create more of it |
| CBT | Changing negative interaction patterns, cognitive distortions about the relationship | Identifies and restructures unhelpful thought patterns that fuel conflict |
Your therapist will recommend an approach based on your relationship's specific dynamics, the issues you are facing, and what feels right for both of you. Many couples benefit from a combination of methods as therapy progresses.
What to Expect in Sessions
The first session is typically an extended intake where your therapist meets with both of you together to hear about your relationship, understand what brought you in, and learn about your individual histories and goals. Some of our therapists also schedule brief individual sessions with each partner early in the process to ensure both people feel heard. This is a safe space -- your therapist is not there to judge or take sides, but to understand the full picture.
In ongoing sessions, you will work together on the specific dynamics that are causing pain in your relationship. This might involve learning to fight fairly, practicing active listening and validation, rebuilding trust after a betrayal, improving emotional responsiveness, or finding new ways to show appreciation and maintain connection during busy or stressful periods. Your therapist will guide structured conversations, help you recognize negative cycles in real time, and teach you tools you can use at home between sessions. Couples sessions are typically 50 to 60 minutes, and some couples benefit from longer 80-minute sessions when working through particularly complex issues.
Change in relationships does not happen overnight. Some couples notice improvement within the first few sessions, while others need more time -- especially if there are deep-seated patterns or significant hurts to work through. What our clients in Naples, Estero, and Fort Myers consistently tell us is that having a skilled, neutral third party in the room makes conversations possible that were not happening at home. Whether your goal is to rebuild a struggling relationship or to strengthen a good one, our couples therapists will meet you where you are and help you move toward the partnership you both want.
Therapy for Divorce & Separation
Not every couple who comes to therapy is trying to stay together -- and that's OK. Sometimes the most important work happens when a relationship is ending. Therapy during a divorce or separation can help you communicate more effectively with your co-parent, process the grief and anger that come with the end of a partnership, and make decisions from a grounded place rather than a reactive one.
If you're not sure whether to stay or go, therapy can also help you get clarity. Our couples therapists create a space where both partners can be honest about what they need, explore whether the relationship can be repaired, and -- if it can't -- navigate the transition with as much respect and care as possible. For parents, this work is especially valuable in setting the tone for a healthy co-parenting relationship going forward.
Rebuilding After Infidelity
Infidelity is one of the most painful experiences a couple can face, but it doesn't have to mean the end of your relationship. Many couples who come to us after an affair go on to rebuild a stronger, more honest partnership -- though the road is rarely quick or easy. Our therapists use the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy to help both partners process the betrayal, understand what led to it, and rebuild trust step by step.
Whether you're the partner who was hurt or the one who strayed, therapy gives you a structured, safe space to have the conversations that feel impossible at home. We don't take sides or assign blame. We help you both understand the underlying dynamics, repair the emotional bond, and decide together what the future of your relationship looks like.
Couples Counseling at Our Fort Myers Office
Our Fort Myers office on Matthew Drive serves couples throughout Lee County, including Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Gateway, Fort Myers Beach, and the surrounding communities. If you've been searching for a couples therapist in Fort Myers, you've probably noticed there aren't as many options as you'd expect for a metro area this size. We hear that from clients regularly.
Fort Myers and Cape Coral are among the fastest-growing communities in Florida, and that growth brings its own set of relationship pressures. Relocating without a support network, adjusting to retirement as a couple, rebuilding after Hurricane Ian, managing the financial stress of a new mortgage or rising insurance costs. These aren't abstract stressors. They're the specific things Fort Myers couples bring into our office every week. Cape Coral residents in particular often tell us they struggled to find a couples therapist on that side of the bridge. Our Matthew Drive location is a straightforward drive from Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, and Lehigh Acres.
Shivani Patel, our Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern, sees couples at the Fort Myers and Estero offices. She works with partners navigating communication breakdowns, life transitions, and the kind of slow emotional drift that can happen when life gets busy and connection falls to the bottom of the list. We also accept Care Partners / Lee Health insurance at all locations, which is especially relevant for Lee County residents.
Therapists Who Specialize in Couples Counseling
Tracy Onal, MA, RMHCI
Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern
Gottman Level 2 Certified | EFT Certified
Naples & Estero offices
Shivani Patel, M.Ed. & Ed.S., RMFTI
Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Estero & Fort Myers offices
Emily Korolevich, MS, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Bilingual: English & Spanish
Naples office
Priscilla Bovi, MS, LMHC
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Naples office
Stephen Bridges, MSW, RSWI
Registered Clinical Social Work Intern
Estero & Fort Myers offices
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we know if we need couples counseling?
If you and your partner are experiencing recurring arguments, difficulty communicating, emotional distance, trust issues, or a general sense that something is 'off' in the relationship, couples counseling can help. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit -- many couples come to therapy to strengthen a good relationship or navigate a specific life transition like a move, a new baby, or a career change. If either partner feels unheard, disconnected, or frustrated with how things are going, that is reason enough to reach out.
What approaches do your couples therapists use?
Our therapists use research-backed approaches including the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Structural Family Therapy. Tracy Onal is a certified Level 2 Gottman Therapist and EFT Certified Therapist, bringing specialized expertise in strengthening emotional bonds and improving communication patterns. Your therapist will choose the approach -- or combination of approaches -- that best fits your relationship's unique needs and goals.
Does my partner have to want to come, or can I start couples counseling alone?
Ideally, both partners attend couples counseling sessions. However, if your partner is hesitant, you can absolutely start individual therapy to work on your side of the relationship dynamic. Often, when one partner begins making positive changes, the other becomes more open to joining. Our therapists can also help you explore whether couples counseling, individual work, or both would be most helpful for your situation.
How long does couples counseling usually take?
The length of treatment depends on the issues you are working through, how long the patterns have been in place, and how engaged both partners are in the process. Some couples see meaningful improvement in 8 to 12 sessions, while others with more complex or long-standing issues benefit from ongoing work over several months. Your therapist will regularly assess progress with both of you and adjust the treatment plan accordingly.
Do you offer couples counseling through telehealth?
Yes, we offer telehealth couples counseling sessions for partners located anywhere in Florida. Virtual sessions can be especially convenient for couples with busy schedules or when partners are in different locations. Our therapists use the same evidence-based approaches in telehealth as they do in our Naples, Estero, and Fort Myers offices. Many couples find that meeting from home creates a more relaxed environment for difficult conversations.
What happens in the first couples counseling session?
The first session is mostly about your therapist getting to know both of you and understanding what brought you in. You'll each have a chance to share your perspective on the relationship, what's been difficult, and what you're hoping to get out of therapy. Your therapist will ask about your history as a couple, your communication patterns, and your goals. There's no pressure to dive into the hardest topics right away -- the first session is about building a foundation of trust so the real work can happen in the sessions that follow.
Can couples counseling actually save a relationship?
Research shows that couples therapy is effective for the majority of couples who commit to the process. The Gottman Method, for example, has been shown to help roughly two-thirds of couples move from distressed to recovered. That said, couples counseling doesn't always mean staying together -- sometimes it helps two people realize they are better apart, and supports them in separating with less damage. The goal is always a healthier outcome, whatever that looks like for your situation.
How much does couples counseling cost?
The cost of couples counseling depends on your insurance coverage. If your plan covers outpatient therapy, your cost is typically your standard copay or coinsurance per session. Florida Coast Counseling accepts most major insurance plans including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, Medicare Part B, and Care Partners. Call us at (239) 427-1833 and we'll verify your benefits before your first appointment so you know exactly what to expect.
Insurance We Accept for Couples Counseling
We want cost to be one less thing standing between you and a stronger relationship. Florida Coast Counseling accepts most major insurance plans at all three of our offices.
Not sure if your plan is covered? Call us at (239) 427-1833 and we will check your benefits before your first session. Learn more about insurance & payment →
Ready to Start Your Journey?
Your relationship is worth fighting for. Take the first step together -- our couples therapists are here to help you reconnect, communicate, and build a stronger partnership.
Available at our Naples, Estero, and Fort Myers offices, plus telehealth across Florida.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. These services are free, confidential, and available 24/7.