Couples counselling can be a very effective way of addressing stuck patterns between partners. Many couples find that stresses such as trust issues, becoming parents, imbalanced sexual desires, communication problems, affairs, anger and many others, begin to gnaw away at the quality of the relationship. It is the task of couples counselling to provide a safe place in which to air views and get equal time to speak and to be heard.

The individuals within the couple invariably have different needs and expectations, natural differences that somehow brought them together in the beginning. However, these differences tend to get buried unless they are talked about thus building up resentment over time. Often some of those feeling towards the other partner are angry, shameful, fearful, etc. These feelings get bottled up causing couples to behave in ways that the other partner doesn't understand and visa versa,a cycle of discontent ensues and it is the therapist's task to help the couple see and make sense of limiting non-negotiating areas and try out new ways of being safely.