Couples Counseling in Laguna Beach

Couples counseling at Third Street Counseling is led by Brian Stubbs, AMFT, trained in the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy. Falling in love is easy. Staying in love, all while feeling safe, playful, and connected, is trickier, and often how people find their way to couples work. Maybe every attempt to bring up something real turns into a fight, or worse, a slow fade into silence.

Relationships are one of the most powerful places we have to grow: learning to soften our defenses, deepen our compassion, and stay open when every instinct says to shut down or strike back. The work itself is the path back to each other.

Brian will help you slow down the patterns that keep tripping you up, understand what is underneath your reactivity and your partner's, and rebuild the kind of emotional and physical connection that made you want to do this in the first place.

The Gottman Method is a structured, research-based approach that focuses on the patterns couples fall into, the small moments that build or erode connection, and the practical skills that help two people turn toward each other instead of away. You can read more about it on our Gottman Method and EFT page.

Emotionally Focused Therapy works at the level of emotional bond. It helps couples see the cycle they are caught in, the one where one person's withdrawal triggers the other's pursuit, or vice versa, and step out of it together. The two approaches complement each other, and Brian draws on both depending on what the moment calls for.

Some couples come to counseling on the brink of a decision. Others come because they want to strengthen a relationship that is already good. Both are valid reasons. The free consult is the place to talk about where you are and what you are looking for.