New Edition: About Orenstein Solutions
Meet our Relationship/Marriage–Friendly Therapists:
Dr. Susan Orenstein, Dr. Mike Butler and Dr. Murray McNiel
Therapists who excel as couples therapists need a special toolkit to work with the often complex issues facing couples today. At Orenstein Solutions, our couples therapists strive to keep filling our toolkit, in order to provide you with the best couples counseling available. Here’s what’s in our toolkit:
Experience:
Since couples work is our specialty, we have years of combined experience working with couples addressing issues at various stages of their relationship, including premarital and newly married concerns, same-sex partners, young families, re-marriage and blended family, and empty nesters. We also have experience helping couples address issues including infidelity/affair recovery, mixed marriages (interfaith, interracial, cross-cultural), dual professional issues, infertility, pornography addiction and sexuality/intimacy issues.
Specific Communication Training:
Our therapists have advanced training in conflict resolution and couples communication, key issues in helping ailing relationships. As a neutral third party, we have a unique perspective to your interactional patterns and will provide you with feedback and coaching to make constructive changes.
Eclectic and Cutting-Edge Training:
We draw on the research and training of Masters in the field of Marital Therapy, including: 30+ years of research by John Gottman and Don Baucom, training in Family Mediation, Susan Johnson’s EFT model, and Michele-Weiner Davis’ Solution-Focused work.
Marriage/Relationship-Friendly Philosophy:
Our values are in line with the idea of committed relationships. We believe (and have research to back us up) that this type of relationship is the best for the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of both men and women. We know you have already invested much time and energy into your relationship, and do not assume it is easily disposable. We have seen the heartache and years of stress divorce can cause on families, and know that often partners regret their decision to end relationships years later. And therefore, when partners come to us with relationship dissatisfaction, we are committed to providing encouragement and support, while working with you to develop more joy, connection and intimacy with your partner.
As with most generalizations, there are exceptions. When partners come to treatment with certain delicate issues, such as infidelity, physical abuse or addiction, our priority is to the safety, health and dignity of each partner.
Treating the individual as well as the couple:
We recognize the co-morbidity of an individual’s depression and anxiety with marital distress. This can be a chicken-or-egg question—do individuals who are dissatisfied in their marriage develop depression and anxiety or does being depressed and anxious negatively impact a relationship? Yes, yes, and yes. Couples therapy is often a cost-effective and practical way to help both partners elevate their moods, decrease stress, find ways to comfort each other, and improve their relationship --all at the same time.
Respect:
We work within your belief and value system, respecting your religious and sexual orientations, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, perspectives, opinions, goals and preferences. We work to understand your values and help you have the relationship that is meaningful and satisfying to you according to your definition of success.
