Expert counseling to help you rebuild connection, resolve conflict, and create a stronger, more fulfilling relationship
Our experienced therapists and family therapist associates provide compassionate couples counseling for partners seeking to heal their relationships, improve communication, and rediscover joy together. Whether you’re navigating infidelity, ongoing conflict, or simply want more trust and intimacy in your partnership, our counseling services are built around your unique needs.
Strengthen Your Relationship Through Couples Counseling
Every relationship faces challenges over the course of time. Whether you’re dealing with trust issues, communication breakdowns, ongoing conflict, or simply feeling disconnected from your partner, couples therapy offers a path forward.
At The Terrebonne Group in New Orleans, our dedicated therapists provide marriage counseling and couples therapy that helps partners understand each other more deeply, develop better coping skills, and rebuild the connection that brought them together.
Our approach to couples counseling goes beyond surface-level solutions. We help couples explore the underlying patterns, history, and emotions that fuel disagreements and distance. This is where self understanding becomes central to the work: many partners come to see how family-of-origin history and past trauma shape the way they argue, withdraw, or seek reassurance today. Through this deeper understanding, partners develop the skills and insight needed to heal their relationships and create meaningful change.
Whether you’re navigating a specific crisis or seeking to strengthen an already good relationship, our therapists are here to support your journey toward greater intimacy, trust, and happiness.
We understand that reaching out for couples therapy takes courage. Our counselors create a confidential, non-judgmental space where both individuals feel heard, respected, and supported as you work together to resolve concerns and build a healthier partnership.
Nationally, less than 10% of couples seek professional help before divorce — most partners wait until a relationship is already in crisis. Reaching out earlier, even for a handful of sessions, tends to produce far more positive outcomes than waiting until trust has fully eroded.
Is Couples Counseling Right for Your Relationship?
Couples therapy can benefit relationships at any stage—from new partnerships navigating early challenges to long-term marriages seeking renewal. You might benefit from couples counseling if you're experiencing:
Communication Difficulties
- Frequent misunderstandings or feeling unheard by your partner
- Conversations that quickly escalate into arguments or conflict
- Difficulty expressing your needs, emotions, or concerns effectively
- One or both partners shutting down or withdrawing during disagreements
Trust Issues & Betrayal
- Healing and recovery from infidelity, affairs, or emotional betrayal
- Difficulty rebuilding trust after broken promises, repeated lies, or deception
- Ongoing suspicion, jealousy, or constant need for reassurance and validation
- Patterns of secrecy, lack of transparency, or withholding information from each other
Considering Separation or Divorce
- Contemplating divorce but wanting to explore all options first
- Frequent thoughts about leaving the relationship
- Feeling stuck between staying and going
- Wanting to determine if the relationship can be saved
Ongoing Conflict & Disagreements
- Repetitive arguments about the same issues without resolution
- Inability to compromise or find solutions that work for both partners
- Feelings of resentment or anger that won't go away
- Constant tension or walking on eggshells around each other
Intimacy & Connection Concerns
- Decreased physical or emotional intimacy
- Feeling more like roommates than romantic partners
- Loss of affection, romance, or sexual connection
- Feeling emotionally distant or disconnected from your partner
Life Transitions & External Stress
- Adjusting to major life changes such as becoming parents, career shifts, or relocation
- Managing stress from external pressures affecting the relationship
- Differences in how partners cope with challenges or unexpected events
- Struggling to maintain connection during difficult times
Financial Stress & Addiction
Money disagreements and substance use are among the most common reasons couples seek counseling. Whether the concern is financial stress straining the household or addiction affecting trust and daily life, a family therapist can help both partners address the issue as a team rather than adversaries.
A Note on Safety
Couples counseling assumes both partners can engage safely and honestly with each other. When there is ongoing physical violence in a relationship, standard couples therapy is generally not appropriate, and individual safety planning should come first. If this describes your situation, please reach out and we can help point you toward the right resources — your safety and your family's safety come before any therapy goal.
Is Couples Counseling Right for Your Relationship?
Couples therapy can benefit relationships at any stage—from new partnerships navigating early challenges to long-term marriages seeking renewal. You might benefit from couples counseling if you're experiencing:
Communication Difficulties
- Frequent misunderstandings or feeling unheard by your partner
- Conversations that quickly escalate into arguments or conflict
- Difficulty expressing your needs, emotions, or concerns effectively
- One or both partners shutting down or withdrawing during disagreements
Trust Issues & Betrayal
- Healing and recovery from infidelity, affairs, or emotional betrayal
- Difficulty rebuilding trust after broken promises, repeated lies, or deception
- Ongoing suspicion, jealousy, or constant need for reassurance and validation
- Patterns of secrecy, lack of transparency, or withholding information from each other
Considering Separationor Divorce
- Contemplating divorce but wanting to explore all options first
- Frequent thoughts about leaving the relationship
- Feeling stuck between staying and going
- Wanting to determine if the relationship can be saved
Ongoing Conflict & Disagreements
- Repetitive arguments about the same issues without resolution
- Inability to compromise or find solutions that work for both partners
- Feelings of resentment or anger that won't go away
- Constant tension or walking on eggshells around each other
Intimacy & Connection Concerns
- Decreased physical or emotional intimacy
- Feeling more like roommates than romantic partners
- Loss of affection, romance, or sexual connection
- Feeling emotionally distant or disconnected from your partner
Life Transitions & External Stress
- Adjusting to major life changes such as becoming parents, career shifts, or relocation
- Managing stress from external pressures affecting the relationship
- Differences in how partners cope with challenges or unexpected events
- Struggling to maintain connection during difficult times
Financial Stress & Addiction
Money disagreements and substance use are among the most common reasons couples seek counseling. Whether the concern is financial stress straining the household or addiction affecting trust and daily life, a family therapist can help both partners address the issue as a team rather than adversaries.
A Note on Safety
Couples counseling assumes both partners can engage safely and honestly with each other. When there is ongoing physical violence in a relationship, standard couples therapy is generally not appropriate, and individual safety planning should come first. If this describes your situation, please reach out and we can help point you toward the right resources — your safety and your family's safety come before any therapy goal.
How We Approach Couples Counseling
At The Terrebonne Group, our marriage counseling and couples therapy integrates evidence-based approaches with deep respect for each couple’s unique history, culture, and relationship dynamics. Our couples therapists draw on established modalities such as the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) — two of the most widely researched, evidence-based methods used in couples counseling nationally — alongside a psychodynamic lens that helps process trauma at its root. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all treatment. Instead, we tailor our approach to therapy to help each couple address their specific concerns and build on their existing strengths.
Creating a Safe, Balanced Space
Our therapists strive to create an environment where both partners feel equally heard and supported. We maintain neutrality while helping each individual understand their partner’s perspective and their own role in relationship patterns. This balanced approach allows couples to explore difficult topics with more trust and less defensiveness.
Understanding Patterns & History
We help couples recognize the repetitive patterns that create conflict and disconnection in their relationships. By exploring how past experiences, family history, and learned behaviors influence current dynamics — often through trauma therapy techniques designed to process trauma rather than simply manage its symptoms — partners gain insight into why certain issues feel so charged and difficult to resolve. This understanding opens the door to making different, healthier choices and building lasting resilience.
Building Effective Tools & Skills
Through couples counseling, partners learn practical communication skills, conflict resolution strategies, and better coping skills for managing stress and emotions. Our therapists teach couples how to express needs clearly, listen actively, manage disagreements constructively, and create more trust and intimacy in daily life.
Honoring Your Relationship’s Strengths
Even in distressed relationships, there are strengths to build upon. We help couples reconnect with what initially drew them together, identify what still works well, and use these positive aspects as a foundation for healing and growth.
What Format and Length to Expect
Couples therapy in New Orleans varies quite a bit in format and cost — from sliding-scale community counseling to private-practice care, and from weekly in-person sessions to teletherapy. Couples counseling itself can last anywhere from a few sessions focused on a single concern to several months of ongoing work for deeper relational or trauma-related issues. There’s no single right answer; the right fit depends on what you and your partner are working through and what pace feels sustainable for your life.
Our Couples Therapist
Couples therapy at The Terrebonne Group is provided by Dorian Rolston, LMSW, who works from a psychodynamic perspective using the therapeutic relationship as a foundation for healing and growth. He specializes in helping couples understand the patterns keeping them stuck, navigate ongoing conflicts, and rebuild connection.
Dorian Rolston
Dorian offers couples therapy using a psychodynamic approach that explores how each partner's history and experiences shape their relationship patterns. He specializes in working with couples dealing with ongoing conflict, attachment concerns, and the impact of family history on current relationships.
As a private practice, The Terrebonne Group offers relationship-centered care to individuals, couples, and families throughout the New Orleans community, and can provide superbills so out-of-network clients may seek reimbursement through their insurance.
What Couples Gain From Counseling
When couples engage fully in the therapy process, they often experience:
- Improved ability to communicate about difficult topics without escalation
- Greater understanding of each partner’s needs, emotions, and perspectives
- More effective tools for resolving conflict and managing disagreements
- Increased sense of emotional safety and trust in the relationship
- Better coping skills for managing external stress that affects the partnership
- Renewed intimacy, connection, and joy in the relationship
- Clarity about whether to continue working on the relationship or separate respectfully
The benefits of couples counseling extend beyond the relationship itself and support overall mental health. Partners often find that the skills they learn in counseling help them cope more effectively with challenges in other areas of life, including relationships with children, parents, extended family, and colleagues. Counseling fosters a supportive, loving environment at home — one where children and other family members benefit from calmer, more resilient parents, even though the sessions themselves focus on the couple.
Begin Your Journey Toward a Stronger Relationship
Reaching out for couples counseling takes courage and represents hope for your relationship. Whether you're in crisis or simply want to strengthen your connection, our therapists in New Orleans are here to help you and your partner understand each other more deeply, resolve conflict more effectively, and create the relationship you both desire.
Contact The Terrebonne Group today to schedule your couples therapy consultation either in-person at our New Orleans office or through teletherapy, available throughout Louisiana.
Ready to Begin?
Frequently-Asked Questions About Couples Therapy
How do we know if we need couples therapy?
If you're noticing repeated conflict, emotional distance, communication issues, or a loss of intimacy that you can't resolve on your own, that's usually a sign it's worth scheduling a first session. You don't need to be in crisis to benefit — many couples seek counseling simply to strengthen a relationship they want to protect.
What if my partner doesn't want to come to therapy?
It's common for one partner to be more hesitant than the other. A counselor can often meet with the willing partner individually first to explore concerns, and many reluctant partners become more open once they understand what couples counseling actually involves — it's not about assigning blame, but building understanding.
How long does couples therapy take?
There's no fixed timeline. Some couples resolve a specific concern in a handful of sessions; others work with a therapist over several months, particularly when trauma, infidelity, or long-standing patterns are involved. Your therapist will help set realistic expectations after the first session or two.
Can couples therapy save our relationship?
Couples therapy can't guarantee a specific outcome, but it consistently helps partners communicate more clearly, understand each other's perspective, and make an informed, less reactive decision about the relationship's future — whether that means staying together or separating with less conflict.
Is what we discuss in couples therapy confidential?
Yes. Sessions are confidential within the limits required by law (such as concerns about safety), and your therapist will review those limits with you at the start of care so you know exactly what to expect.