Build Trust, Deepen Connections, Improve Your Relationships
Couples and Marriage Counselling in Bristol
Looking for a couples counsellor in Bristol? I’ve been helping couples and marriages for over a decade by creating safe environments for them to explore issues and resolve conflicts.
Getting help for your relationship can be a daunting, challenging task. However, it’s never too late to save a potentially good relationship. With a professional and practical approach, you can begin to repair the cracks and create the relationship you’ve always wanted.
Come as a Couple or on Your Own
Relationship healing can begin with just one person. Whether you come together or alone, meaningful change is possible. Individual sessions help you explore your own patterns and needs, while couples work focuses on shared dynamics. Many clients start alone and transition to couples work when their partner feels ready.
LGBTQ+ Relationships
Every relationship deserves understanding, respect, and support. I provide an affirming space for LGBTQ+ couples to explore their unique relationship dynamics and challenges. Counselling acknowledges the specific pressures and minority stress that can affect queer relationships, while honouring your individual journey and experiences.
How Can I Help?
Explore and Resolve Problems with a Professional Couples Counsellor in Bristol
If you’re experiencing one or several challenges in your relationship, I provide a safe space to explore and understand them. Through the years, I’ve helped couples with a range of issues – big and small. So no matter what problems your relationship faces, I can work with you and provide practical tools to help you through.
Affairs and Betrayals
Affairs and infidelity can be crippling in a relationship and it can take time to rebuild trust. You may experience feelings of anger, betrayal, jealously, and feel there is no saving your relationship. However, with structured, professional couples counselling, you can learn to express your emotions safely whilst developing a practical roadmap for potential healing.
Unresolved Trauma
Past pain can damage your relationship today, causing jealousy, trust issues, fear, anger, or withdrawal. Counselling provides a safe space to explore these experiences at your pace. My approach helps you understand how trauma affects your connection now, transforming old wounds into opportunities for growth.
Parenting Challenges
Raising children together can strain your relationship as you navigate different parenting styles and the demands of childcare. Counselling helps you work as a team, understanding your approaches and finding practical ways to support each other, reconnecting as partners, not just parents.
Persistent Arguments
Stuck in the same fights? These repeated conflicts signal deeper issues and gradually weaken your bond. With my help, you can uncover the real causes of arguments and gain tools to interrupt harmful patterns. Many couples transform old conflicts into opportunities for genuine connection and growth.
Communication Breakdown
Feel like you talk past each other? Small misunderstandings grow into big gaps, with each conversation making things worse. Guided dialogue sessions help couples develop a shared language that works for both partners, teaching real listening and speaking with care to rebuild trust.
Emotional Detachment
Drifting apart leaves many couples feeling like housemates rather than lovers. Warmth fades into polite distance as sharing feelings becomes unsafe. Couples counselling helps you understand why you pull away emotionally and creates safety so you can find your way back to each other.
What to Expect
My Proven Approach to Couples Counselling in Bristol
I use Imago Relationship Therapy to help you understand how your past shapes your current relationship. In our sessions, you’ll learn to really listen to each other, see things from your partner’s view, and share how you feel with kindness.
This clear step-by-step method helps you feel safe to open up while we work on both day-to-day issues and deeper patterns. Instead of finding faults, we look at how your struggles can actually help you heal and grow stronger together.
I truly believe every couple has the wisdom to fix their relationship. My job is to help you find this wisdom through professional guidance, useful tools, and a deep respect for your unique journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It Worth Going to Couples Counselling?
Many couples wonder if counselling is truly worth the time, emotional energy, and investment. The simple answer is yes, especially when both partners come with an openness to understand each other better.
Couples counselling offers a unique opportunity to break free from painful cycles that leave you feeling stuck and misunderstood. With a trained professional guiding your conversations, you can discover new ways to connect that might feel impossible to find on your own.
Even couples with deep wounds often find that counselling helps them see their relationship through fresh eyes. The skills you learn extend beyond your current challenges, strengthening your connection for years to come. Whether you’re facing serious problems or simply want to deepen your bond, counselling creates a safe space where both voices matter equally.
Does Couples Counselling Work?
Couples counselling works remarkably well for many relationships, though success depends on several factors. Research shows that most couples experience meaningful improvements when both partners engage fully in the process.
The effectiveness comes from learning to truly hear each other, perhaps for the first time in years. Through guided conversations, you discover the deeper needs behind surface conflicts. This understanding creates a foundation for healing that continues long after counselling ends.
Is Couples Counselling the Same as Marriage Counselling?
Couples counselling and marriage counselling use the same approaches and techniques. The only real difference is that couples counselling welcomes all relationship types, whether married or not, while marriage counselling specifically focuses on married couples.
Both types of counselling help partners improve communication, resolve conflicts, and build stronger connections. The skills you learn work equally well regardless of your legal relationship status. What matters most is your commitment to the process, not whether you have a marriage certificate.
In my practice, I welcome all relationship structures with equal care and respect. Every relationship deserves support during difficult times, whether you’ve been together for decades or are just beginning your journey together.
What to Expect From Couples Counselling
Your first session begins with getting to know each other and discussing what brings you to counselling. I create a warm, balanced space where both partners feel heard without judgment.
Early sessions focus on understanding your relationship patterns and the unique history you share. We explore how past experiences might influence current struggles, while identifying strengths we can build upon.
As counselling progresses, you’ll learn practical communication tools through guided conversations. These structured dialogues help you express difficult feelings safely while truly hearing your partner’s perspective. Many couples describe feeling truly understood for the first time during these exchanges.
Between sessions, you might practice new ways of talking and listening at home. These small changes gradually create bigger shifts in how you relate to each other. Throughout the process, I remain a supportive guide rather than taking sides or assigning blame.
Can Couples Counselling Save a Relationship?
Couples counselling can absolutely help save relationships that still contain love and respect beneath the struggles. The process offers tools to rebuild trust, improve understanding, and heal old wounds that keep you stuck in painful patterns.
That said, counselling isn’t about forcing a relationship to continue at any cost. Sometimes the greatest gift of counselling is clarity about whether a healthy future together is possible. Either way, the process helps couples make decisions from a place of understanding rather than hurt or anger.
What counselling does beautifully is create a space where both voices matter equally. This balance often reveals possibilities for connection that seemed impossible before. Many couples discover renewed appreciation for each other through the process, remembering what drew them together in the first place.
Gina Simeon
Address: 16 Rockleaze Court, Rockleaze Avenue, Bristol BS9 1NN
Phone: +44 7772 973031
Email: gina@relationshipcounsellingbristol.co.uk
Everything is treated in confidence and I will not have any expectations from you. It’s important you find the therapist that suits you.