Most couples come to us when something has been wrong for longer than it should have been: the same fights on repeat, distance creeping in, or a specific rupture that broke trust. Crown's couples therapists are trained in two evidence-based approaches to relationship therapy: the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Both work because they target the underlying cycle, not just the surface argument.
This may be a good fit for…
- ✓Married or long-term committed couples (dating, engaged, married, partnered)
- ✓Couples stuck in the same fight over and over
- ✓Affair recovery or breach of trust
- ✓Loss of intimacy, sexual disconnect, or mismatched desire
- ✓Premarital couples wanting a strong foundation
- ✓Parenting-stage and life-transition friction
- ✓LGBTQ+ couples, polyamorous relationships, and intercultural partnerships
- ✓Couples deciding whether to stay together or separate
Key benefits
Fewer Repeated Fights
Identify the cycle underneath your top three recurring fights, and learn to interrupt it before it escalates.
Real Emotional Safety
EFT and Gottman work create the felt sense that your partner is in your corner, even in conflict.
Restored Intimacy
Address the emotional distance, resentment, or hurt that has dulled physical and emotional closeness.
Tools for Tough Conversations
Concrete skills (softened start-up, repair attempts, hold-me-tight conversations) that work in real life, not just in the office.
Affair Recovery Roadmap
A staged, research-informed path through atonement, attunement, and attachment.
A Stronger Foundation
Premarital couples leave with a shared map of communication, finances, family, and intimacy expectations.
Approaches we use
The Gottman Method
Built on 40+ years of research with thousands of couples. We use the Sound Relationship House framework to assess your relationship and target the specific floors that need work, from love maps to managing conflict to shared meaning.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Dr. Sue Johnson's attachment-based couples therapy. EFT helps couples identify their negative cycle, share the softer emotions underneath, and build a secure bond.
Discernment Counseling
A short, structured (1–5 session) protocol for couples where one partner is leaning toward divorce and the other wants to repair. The goal isn't to fix the marriage; it's to clarify the path forward.
Affair Recovery Protocol
A staged approach (atonement, attunement, attachment) based on Gottman and EFT research.
How we work
- 1
Comprehensive Assessment
Session 1 is together; sessions 2 and 3 are individual; session 4 is the feedback session where we share what we see and propose a treatment plan. No guessing.
- 2
Both Partners Heard
Crown therapists are trained to stay multi-partial: we hold both perspectives without taking sides. You won't feel ganged up on.
- 3
Skills + Healing
We balance practical communication skills with deeper emotional repair. Neither one alone is enough.
Gottman's Sound Relationship House
Seven floors, two load-bearing walls, built from 40+ years of research with 3,000+ couples.
Our approach at Crown Counseling
Couples often arrive at Crown after months or years of trying to fix things alone. The most common pattern we see isn't a lack of love; it's a negative cycle that's taken on a life of its own. One partner pursues, the other withdraws; one criticizes, the other gets defensive. Both end up feeling unseen. Our job is to slow that cycle down enough that you can see what's actually happening, and to give you the tools to break it.
Couples work at Crown begins with assessment: a joint session, an individual session with each partner, and a feedback session where your therapist shares what they've observed and proposes a treatment plan tailored to your relationship. Taking the time to understand the relationship before intervening is one of the strongest predictors of couples therapy going well.
From there, your therapist draws from the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), or a blend of both, depending on what your relationship needs. Gottman's research-backed Sound Relationship House gives us a framework for addressing the specific 'floors' that need work, from building love maps to managing conflict to creating shared meaning. EFT, developed by Dr. Sue Johnson, addresses the attachment wounds underneath the cycle. Outcome studies on EFT consistently show 70–75% of couples moving from distress to recovery [1], and Gottman-method couples therapy shows comparable, durable improvements [2].
For affair recovery, we follow a staged protocol drawn from both methods: atonement (full transparency from the partner who broke the trust), attunement (rebuilding emotional safety), and attachment (re-forming the bond). This is hard, slow work, and it has strong research support for rebuilding trust. Discernment counseling is available when one partner is unsure whether to stay; the goal there isn't reconciliation but clarity.
Crown sees couples in-person in Brooklyn and via telehealth across New York State. Sessions are 50 minutes by default; many couples opt for 80-minute sessions when working on deeper issues like affair recovery. We accept most major insurance plans for individuals, and we'll verify your coverage for couples sessions during intake; many plans cover them under a primary diagnosis.
What to expect
- 1
Intake: an initial joint session to hear your concerns
- 2
Individual sessions: one with each partner, confidential
- 3
Feedback session: your therapist shares the assessment and treatment plan
- 4
Weekly couples sessions: Gottman, EFT, or a blended approach
- 5
Homework between sessions: small, specific, doable
References
- Wiebe, S. A., & Johnson, S. M. (2016). A review of the research in Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples Family Process, 55(3), 390–407
- Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S. (2017). The natural principles of love Journal of Family Theory & Review, 9(1), 7–26
