Couples Therapy

Couples therapy and relationship counselling in the UK and online

Every relationship faces challenges. Whether you’re experiencing ongoing issues or want to deepen your connection, couples therapy provides a supportive environment to explore and improve your relationship.

I work with couples at all stages of their relationship journey, offering accepting, non-judgmental support as you navigate challenges and strengthen your connection. My approach helps partners rebuild trust, improve communication, overcome conflict, and deepen emotional and physical intimacy. Therapy offers space to understand what’s happening between you and what needs to shift for your relationship to thrive. I offer both ongoing online sessions and in-person 2-day couples intensives.

How Couples Therapy Can Help You

Couples therapy can support partners struggling with:

  • Communication breakdown and recurring arguments

  • Trust issues and infidelity

  • Intense emotions between partners, such as anger, jealousy, loneliness, hurt, or fear

  • Intimacy concerns and difficulties

  • Emotional intimacy and attachment issues

  • Financial and household management disagreements

  • Cultural differences and blended families

  • Life transitions, including cohabitation, marriage, parenthood, relocation, and retirement

  • Different parenting styles

  • Pre-marriage or pre-cohabitation counselling

My Approach to Relational Change

Every couple’s journey is unique. As an integrative therapist and counsellor, I tailor therapy to your situation. I offer practical strategies to enhance your relationship while helping you understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Healing happens with new felt experiences of compassionate connection.

Every couple brings a unique landscape of experiences, attachment histories, and unmet needs. My role is to help you understand what is happening between you and within each of you with compassion and curiosity, not judgment or blame.

Online Couples Therapy

Ongoing couples therapy consists of 80-minute online sessions to work through relationship challenges. This format works well for couples building communication skills, working through conflict, rebuilding trust, or seeking sustained support over time. Sessions are held over Zoom. Partners may join together from one location or separately from different locations. Book your consultation →

2-Day Couples Therapy Intensive

A 2-day couples therapy intensive offers immersive, focused work over two consecutive days. This format is ideal for couples in crisis, experiencing high conflict, recovering from betrayal, or needing focused momentum to stabilise their relationship. Intensives are held in person at my practice room in Bristol or in select locations in the UK, including London. Learn more about intensives →

Creating Better Relationship Dynamics

My approach balances theories of attachment and differentiation. This allows you to explore and understand yourself as an individual in the relationship while strengthening and deepening your shared bond together.

Attachment refers to the emotional bond between partners, shaping how they seek closeness, security, and support. Secure attachment allows individuals to trust in the relationship, feel safe expressing their emotions, and turn to each other for comfort without fear of rejection or abandonment. Partners can navigate challenges with confidence, knowing their connection is a source of stability rather than uncertainty.

Differentiation in a relationship means staying connected with a partner while maintaining a secure relationship with oneself. It allows each person to understand and express their thoughts, feelings, and needs without losing their sense of self or becoming overly dependent on the other. This balance creates deeper intimacy and nurtures healthy interdependence as both partners can be close while honouring their identities.

About me

I am a qualified couples therapist and psychotherapeutic counsellor with extensive training in couples and relationship therapy, including Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) and psychodynamic approaches. My work with couples is grounded in attachment theory, differentiation, and trauma-informed practice.

Over the years, I have supported individuals and couples in navigating communication challenges, emotional disconnection, and intimacy concerns. My training, combined with years of experience, allows me to provide safe, structured, and highly effective couples therapy tailored to each couple’s unique needs.

Therapeutic Modalities

To support your exploration and healing, I use an integrative model of therapeutic approaches, including:

  • Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT): We work with attachment patterns (how each partner reaches for closeness, safety, and reassurance) and we restructure emotional connection from the inside out.

  • Humanistic and Person-Centred Therapy: You and your partner are met with respect, empathy, and acceptance. Your lived experiences matter, and each partner’s internal world is honoured.

  • Psychodynamic Therapy: We explore how relational templates from the past shape reactions in the present, particularly the parts that feel confusing, shameful, or overwhelming.

  • Systemic Therapy: We look at how you influence each other within the relationship system, and how patterns from families of origin, culture, and wider contexts continue to play out between you.

Book a consultation

What to Expect

Consultation Call

Before your first couples therapy session, each partner is invited to complete a 20-minute consultation call with me. These initial conversations will help me understand your situation and ensure that what I offer fits your needs. We’ll discuss practical matters such as scheduling, fees, and confidentiality, and I can answer questions you may have about working together.

Initial Online Session

Your first session, which lasts 80 minutes, allows both partners to share their perspectives and concerns. We’ll discuss your relationship history, current challenges, and what you hope to achieve through therapy. We can also identify key areas of conflict or disconnect, understand your communication patterns, and discuss your goals for therapy.

Couples Therapy Sessions

Sessions provide space to:

  • Improve communication and resolve conflicts constructively

  • Rebuild trust and emotional connection

  • Address intimacy concerns

  • Process difficult emotions and experiences together

  • Repair attachment injuries

  • Work through specific relationship challenges

  • Explore patterns and experiences from your past that affect your current relationship

  • Understand each partner’s background and consider how this may impact your relationship

  • Navigate life transitions

  • Practice new communication techniques in a supported environment

  • Create and maintain positive changes in your relationship

For couples navigating crisis, high conflict, or feeling stuck despite a commitment to change, a 2-day couples therapy intensive offers focused, immersive work that creates momentum and provides deep insights.


Who I Support

I provide therapy for relationships regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. I recognise that cultural, religious, and personal values deeply influence how we approach relationships, and I’m committed to honouring your relationship’s specific context while helping you work toward your goals.

Book a consultation

Frequently Asked Questions About Couples Therapy

Where do you see clients?

I offer ongoing couples therapy (80-minute sessions) online via Zoom, making it accessible wherever you’re based. Couples therapy intensives are held in person in Bristol or at select locations within the UK, including London.

How long does couples therapy take?

Every relationship is different. Some couples achieve their goals in six to eight sessions, while others benefit from longer-term support. During your initial consultation, we’ll discuss timeframes.

Do we need to attend sessions together?

It is important for both partners to attend all couples sessions. During our work together, each partner will typically have at least one individual session with me. This provides space for each partner’s experience to be explored. Scheduling of individual sessions will be discussed with you.

How often do you see clients?

For ongoing couples therapy, sessions are held weekly for the first two to three months of working together. After that period, we can discuss the frequency of sessions.

Who can attend sessions?

I provide therapy for adults, 18 years of age and older. Children may not attend or be present at individual or couples sessions. If you have children or you are a caregiver, alternative caregiving must be in place for the duration of each online or in-person session.

What if we need more intensive support than weekly sessions?

I offer 2-day therapy intensives for couples navigating crisis, high conflict, or feeling stuck despite their commitment to each other. Intensives provide 12 hours of concentrated therapeutic work over two consecutive days, creating momentum, focus, and depth. Learn more about Couples Therapy Intensives →

What are your fees?

My fees can be viewed here.

Begin your journey towards a stronger, more vibrant relationship.

Contact me or email francesca.sciandra.therapy@gmail.com.

Book your consultation