Couples Therapy in San Diego & Throughout California
Compassionate, Trauma-Informed Support for Deeper Connection and Lasting Change
When Love Feels Harder Than It Should
Most couples don’t seek therapy because something is “wrong” with them — they seek it because their relationship matters.
If your connection feels strained or distant, you may be noticing:
A lack of emotional or physical intimacy
Recurring conflict or painful misunderstandings
Unmet needs that feel hard to express or repair
A growing sense of distance while focusing on family, work, or other responsibilities
Couples therapy can help you understand what’s happening beneath the surface and create meaningful, lasting change.
Our Approach to Couples Therapy
At Cove Counseling Group, we offer couples therapy that goes beyond communication skills or surface-level solutions.
Our work is grounded in attachment science, trauma-informed care, and nervous system awareness. We help couples identify the patterns that keep them stuck — and develop new ways of relating that support emotional safety, connection, and trust.
Rather than focusing on who’s right or wrong, therapy focuses on understanding what’s happening between you and how to shift it together.
What Couples Therapy Can Help With
Couples therapy may support you in:
Reducing recurring conflict and reactivity
Rebuilding emotional and physical intimacy
Repairing ruptures and restoring trust
Navigating transitions such as parenting, stress, or life changes
Understanding attachment patterns and unmet emotional needs
Many couples experience greater closeness, clarity, and resilience when they work together to better understand each other in a safe and supportive space.
You Don’t Have to Wait Until Things Get Worse
Couples therapy isn’t only for relationships in crisis. Many couples choose therapy proactively—to strengthen connection, improve communication, and address small patterns before they grow into larger problems.
Starting therapy earlier can help couples:
Stay emotionally connected through life transitions
Address recurring tensions before they become entrenched
Strengthen intimacy and understanding
Build skills for navigating stress, parenting, or career demands
Create a more resilient foundation for the future
Seeking support early is not a sign of failure—it’s a sign of care, intention, and investment in your relationship.
Trauma-Informed & Attachment-Focused Care
Our therapists are trained in trauma-informed, attachment-based approaches and understand how early experiences shape adult relationships.
Depending on your needs, therapy may integrate:
Attachment-focused couples therapy
Nervous system regulation and mindfulness
Emotion focused therapy
This allows therapy to be tailored to your relationship — not forced into a one-size-fits-all model.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based approach to couples therapy that focuses on strengthening emotional bonds and creating secure, lasting connection.
EFT helps couples understand the emotional patterns beneath conflict — including how unmet attachment needs, fear, or vulnerability can show up as withdrawal, criticism, or reactivity. Rather than teaching scripts or communication techniques alone, EFT works at the level of emotional safety and connection.
Using EFT, we help partners:
Recognize and shift negative interaction cycles
Understand each other’s emotional needs and attachment patterns
Create safer, more responsive ways of connecting
Repair emotional injuries and rebuild trust
EFT aligns naturally with our trauma-informed, attachment-focused approach and supports couples in developing deeper intimacy, security, and resilience.
What to Expect in Couples Therapy
Couples therapy is a collaborative process designed to support safety and understanding for both partners.
Your therapist will help you:
Identify recurring relational patterns
Understand emotional triggers and attachment needs
Learn how to repair disconnection and conflict
Build new ways of communicating and responding
We move at a pace that supports real, sustainable change — not quick fixes.
Is This the Right Fit?
Our practice is often a good fit for couples who:
Value depth, insight, and specialized care
Want to understand themselves and their partner more fully
Are ready to invest in their relationship
Are seeking meaningful, lasting change — not just tools
Couples Therapy in San Diego & California
Cove Counseling Group offers:
In-person couples therapy in San Diego
Online couples therapy throughout California
Our San Diego office is located in Mission Valley and serves couples from North Park, University Heights, Hillcrest, and surrounding neighborhoods.
For clients across California, we provide secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth therapy supported by reliable technology.
Frequently Asked Questions About Couples Therapy
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No. Many couples begin therapy before things reach a breaking point. Couples therapy can be helpful whenever you notice recurring conflict, emotional distance, unmet needs, or difficulty staying connected through life’s demands.
Starting therapy earlier often allows couples to address patterns with more clarity, openness, and room for repair.
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Yes. It’s common for partners to feel differently about starting therapy. Couples therapy can provide a structured, supportive space to explore concerns, understand each other’s perspectives, and clarify what each partner wants and needs from the relationship.
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Couples therapy is not appropriate and generally discouraged when there is ongoing physical violence, coercive control, or a lack of safety (emotional and physical) for one partner. In these situations, individual support and safety-focused resources are essential.
If there has been past emotional harm or relational injury, and both partners feel safe, accountable, and motivated to change, therapy may help address patterns and support healing. We assess this carefully and prioritize emotional and physical safety at all times.
If you’re unsure whether couples therapy is appropriate for your situation, we encourage you to reach out for a consultation so we can help determine next steps.
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Repeating the same conflicts is one of the most common reasons couples seek therapy. Often, these arguments are driven by underlying emotional needs, attachment patterns, or nervous system responses rather than the surface issue itself.
Couples therapy can help you identify and disrupt these deeper patterns so conflict feels less reactive and more repairable.
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There is no set timeline. The length of therapy depends on your goals, the complexity of the issues you’re navigating, and how consistently you’re able to engage in the process.
Our focus is on meaningful, sustainable change—not rushing the work.
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Yes. We offer secure telehealth couples therapy throughout California, as well as in-person sessions in San Diego. Our clinicians are experienced in providing effective, trauma-informed couples therapy online.
Meet Our Couples Therapist
Tara D’Mello, LMFT
Begin Couples Therapy
Healthy relationships aren’t built on perfection — they’re built on understanding, repair, and emotional safety.
If you’re ready to invest in thoughtful, trauma-informed couples therapy, we invite you to reach out.