OUR SERVICES

Couples Therapy

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina • In-person • Online

Relationships can be tricky, especially when you don't feel like your needs are being met.

We all crave connection, and we want to feel loved by our partners.

Unfortunately, when we enter into relationships, we also carry all of the societal pressures and expectations of what it should look like. We want most to feel loved, seen and understood.

To know that our partner, the one we love the most, is there for us. Yet, during moments of disagreement or distress, we often feel disconnected. Now, the one that we're the closest to is also the one that feels the furthest away.

When thoughts of physical or emotional abandonment get in the way of feeling connected and loved, we become fearful.

Our bodies become engaged in a fight, flight or freeze response. And, just like in response to a physical threat, our emotions become heightened, and it's easy to become overwhelmed. 

When our nervous system becomes activated, there's a tendency to protect ourselves and our relationship. 

As a result, some partners will move towards. This looks like seeking out your partner, becoming angry or criticizing, or a desire to keep the conversation going. Other partners will move away by getting quiet, disengaging, leaving the area, or emotionally leaving, or becoming numb.

It can be confusing because how we react on the outside does not always match what we're experiencing on the inside. 

Meanwhile, underneath all of those fights, there's a desire to feel emotionally connected and secure with our partners.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (or EFT for short) helps each partner express their important feelings with one another.

In the process, you’ll also gain clarity about each other’s needs and how to respond in ways that create an emotional connection.

More understanding equals disagreements that get resolved instead of pushed to the side. 

EFT is evidence-based. This means there’s actual research that supports its use. For example, studies revealed that (90%) of couples who go through EFT significantly improve their relationship. Additionally, 70-75% no longer consider themselves in relationship distress following treatment.

Our areas of expertise:

  • Communication Issues

    We want it all when it comes to love. We enter into a relationship, bringing with us all of the hurts and lessons learned from our past. We also bring our desires and expectations for our future with our partners.

    On top of that, our relationships also include those deeply ingrained messages we receive from society and our families. Often resulting in mixed messages of what a relationship is supposed to look like. That’s a lot for a couple to sort through.

    There’s no need to sort through it alone. Click below to book a session.

  • Blended Familes

    The blending of families is tricky. You’re mixing different parenting styles, communication styles, and personalities together and hoping for the best. When parents and kids take sides, it starts to feel like you’re in a house divided.

    There is another way. Therapy will help you to move in the direction of your best hopes, one step at a time. At heart mind & soul counseling, we start with the partners because we’ve found that creating a team with a shared outcome sets up the family for success. Then, if needed, we bring in the children to round it out.

  • Solo Couples Therapy

    Because sometimes your partner’s not so sure about therapy. It happens. However, if it does, you can still attend therapy on your own. There’s much to gain from learning about the role you play in your relationship and moving toward your desired relationship outcomes.

    We encounter this so frequently it has its very own page. You can find it HERE.

  • Infidelity

    There’s a lot of hurt after the discovery of infidelity. Deciding to stay together is a personal decision. At heart mind & soul counseling, we’ll help you work through the feelings and the unhelpful thoughts.

OUR APPROACH

You don’t have to continue feeling disconnected.

Emotionally Focused Therapy can help you create stronger emotional bonds and learn how to communicate effectively. Click on the link below to schedule an appointment.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Our Couples Therapists

Staff Directory
SHEILA TUCKER, LMFT
SHEILA TUCKER, LMFT