Couples, Marriage & Relationship Counselling
in-person onlyIssues experienced by couples may include the following:
- Marriage and family issues
- Parenting issues
- Sexual issues in the couples system
- Affairs
- Triangulation (focus on a 3rd party i.e. one of the children or dependent, ex partner)
- Cross-cultural (including value differences, race, sexual/gender identity)
- Destructive habits
- Stuckness, boredom
- Addiction cycles; co-dependency
- Financial issues
- Repetitive fighting, arguments, grievances and complaints
- Conflict avoidance, resulting in lack of emotional intimacy
- Extended family/in-law issues
- Grief & loss, separation, divorce, closure
Trained in couples counselling, I enjoy incorporting modalities of Gottman Couples Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) in couples work. The issues brought up, when held with presence and with deep listening, can unfold in unexpected and positive ways, offering gifts of love, healing, and heart-felt connection.
I support couples who want to get their relationship back on track, who desire to create new vitality in their lives together, or who are simply questioning if they are suited for each other.
My couples counselling sessions are generally pro-active, incorporating exploration of each individual’s perspectives and needs, as well as facilitation of mutual respect and understanding. I offer couples psycho-education, couples communication skills, conflict management tools, and homework/resources. Those who are committed to the couples counselling process can come away with practices which are beneficial for the well-being such as the following:
- Building more self awareness about your defenses and tendencies
- Being accountable for your own part
- Listening deeply
- Taking the risk to show up and be vulnerable
- Telling your truth (to build a foundation of trust)
- Feeling your feelings
- Keeping your commitments
- Changing behaviours that do not serve
- Responding vs reacting
- Practicing healthy boundaries
- Exiting from unsafe situations
Customized workshops may also be designed for a specific couple.
- Fee: HKD2250 for a 75-minute couples session / in-person. Note the longer duration of each couples session (75 min) vs individual counselling (50 min). For couples who extend beyond the 75 minute sessions, as needed, fees are pro-rated for each additional 15 minutes.
- Free 20 minute phone intake prior to first session.
Pauline is the best couples therapist I have seen. She is deeply present, holding empathy and discernment. She encouraged us to take on our responsibilities of the work and guided us when we were lost in anxiety and hurt. She has helped us find love through the most painful of experiences. We now are walking a path unimaginably good from where we started.
Working with Pauline Goh for couples therapy was transformative. Pauline is highly skilled in somatic work and helped me to stay present in my body when I felt overwhelmed. This is a skill I have been able to continue to develop beyond our work together. She guided my partner and I toward a beginner's mind with one another, which opened the door to real healing in our relationship. This has been priceless for us. Pauline is very skilled at creating a safe, steady space where I felt heard, seen, and supported. I'm so grateful for her warmth, professionalism and care and I highly recommend her wholeheartedly to any couple or individual seeking support.
We started seeing Pauline as a couple of 9 years with some very ingrained and difficult patterns of communication. While one of us was experienced in accessing counselling, the other felt quite hesitant to approach counselling support for the first time. Pauline helped us to work across our differing perspectives and ways of communicating. Through her thoughtful inquiry and invitation, we have come to care better for ourselves and for each other. Our communication has improved measurably, and we are better able to express personal requests, hear the other person without judgement, and work together on mutual goals. Thank you Pauline!