Online IFIO Couples Therapy in Colorado

Relationships are hard. And they can also be among the most meaningful, rewarding, and transformative parts of our lives.

Couples therapy for relationships where trauma and protective patterns keep getting in the way of the closeness and connection you want.

Even emotionally aware, growth-oriented couples become caught in cycles of conflict, withdrawal, defensiveness, resentment, or disconnection. These patterns are rarely about the issue being discussed in the moment.

Conflict in our closest relationships has a way of touching old emotional wounds, activating attachment fears and protective strategies, and dredging up the emotional imprint of painful experiences from the past. When these reactions take over, we lose access to the care, curiosity, and goodwill we have for one another.

This is where IFIO offers a different way forward.

Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO) applies the principles of Internal Family Systems (IFS) to couples therapy. Instead of treating one partner as the problem or focusing only on communication skills, we work with the protective reactions that take over between you and the experiences underneath them.

The goal is not to get rid of these protective parts. It is to understand what they are trying to do, help them step back when they are no longer needed, and make more room for authenticity, openness, and connection.

My work also draws on EMDR when earlier trauma or painful experiences continue to shape what happens in the relationship. This allows us to address both the cycle happening between you now and the experiences that give those reactions so much intensity.

We're ready!

What to Expect in Couple Therapy

In our work together, we will slow down conflict and identify what is happening beneath the argument—not simply repeat the same points more clearly or more loudly.

You will learn to recognize when old fears, protective reactions, or past experiences are shaping the way you respond to each other. Rather than deciding who is right, we will focus on helping each of you feel heard, communicate more honestly, and navigate differences without losing connection.

This work creates less escalation, less shutting down, more effective repair, and a stronger sense that you are working together rather than against or around each other.

What is Intimacy From the Inside Out?

Internal Family Systems, or IFS, is based on the understanding that each person has not only a Self, but a system of parts that have protective roles, or hold painful experiences. Some parts become defensive, critical, controlling, distant, anxious, or shut down in an effort to protect us from rejection, hurt, shame, conflict, or loss. Beneath these protective reactions are often more vulnerable feelings and needs that are difficult to express directly.

Intimacy from the Inside Out, or IFIO, applies the IFS framework specifically to intimate relationships. Rather than focusing only on communication techniques, IFIO helps each partner recognize what is happening internally when conflict begins, take responsibility for protective reactions, and communicate from a place of greater clarity, compassion, and emotional honesty.

This process helps couples move beyond debating facts, assigning blame, or repeatedly practicing communication strategies that disappear when emotions become intense. By addressing both the relationship pattern and the internal experiences driving it, partners can begin to hear one another differently. Communication becomes possible because each person has more space between what they feel and how they respond.

How Couples Therapy Can Help

  • Understanding recurring conflict cycles

  • Building the skills for authentic, effective communication

  • Repairing trust and emotional disconnection

  • Navigating the impact of trauma, attachment wounds, or family-of-origin experiences

  • Understanding differences related to autism or ADHD

  • Expressing needs without criticism, blame, or defensiveness

  • Increasing emotional and physical intimacy

  • Making thoughtful decisions about the future of the relationship

Training in IFIO and Couples Therapy

  • IFIO Advanced Training: Love, Autism, and ADHD, May–June 2026

  • IFIO Advanced Training: Deepening the Skills of IFIO, May 2026

  • IFIO (Intimacy from the Inside Out) Basic Training September–December 2024

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, 24 hours, November 2023

  • Gottman Level 1, April-May 2021

You Don’t Have to Wait Until Things Get Worse

Many couples seek support only after they have spent months (or years!) having the same painful conversations and wondering whether the relationship can continue. You can begin sooner.

Request a free consultation today.

Couple Therapy Rates

Couples therapy sessions are $225 for 75 minutes, and $275 for 90 minute. Couples therapy is private-pay and is not billed to insurance.

Private-pay allows both partners, and the relationship itself to remain at the center of our work. It also gives us the flexibility to use longer sessions, address the patterns affecting both of you, and focus on your shared goals without shaping treatment around one partner’s diagnosis.