Nurturing New Beginnings with Couples at Artful Couples Therapy

A marriage is more than a ceremony—it’s a continuous journey marked by mutual love, honesty, understanding, and growth. Pre-marital counseling is not just for couples anticipating challenges; it's for those committed to building a resilient and emotionally connected life together. At Artful Couples Therapy, Ivy Austin, LMFT, counsels clients with an artistic sensitivity informed by decades in the performing arts, in addition to her authenticity, integrity, and therapeutic expertise.

From the first session, the tone isn’t clinical—it’s warm, collaborative, and personal. Ivy helps couples explore methods of communication, family dynamics, intimacy, and shared values. Her performing arts background enriches her therapeutic style with deep listening skills, expressive openness, and an awareness of emotional nuance—helpful when navigating difficult topics like children, religion, employment, finances, extended family, and conflict resolution. Your counseling journey begins with Ivy gathering an understanding of how each of you experiences the relationship; you will work together to design happier and healthier relationships, all within the framework of confidentiality, kindness, and respect.

Through practice exercises and discussions, hidden expectations begin to surface; couples are able to clarify intentions, hopes, and dreams, and build a vocabulary for emotional connection. Ivy integrates techniques from evidence-based modalities including, but not limited to, Emotionally Focused Therapy and the Gottman Method, helping participants reflect on external and internal changes along the way. Couples therapy can help rebuild trust, and foster effective communication enabling you to find clarity, set goals, and give meaning to your life together.

With Ivy leading the way, couples become aware of their interaction patterns; they soon see the process of their interactions, which is often more informative than the content. One partner might tend toward shutting down, while the other becomes overly reactive—behavior that can be very problematic when left unaddressed. Ivy helps couples recognize these patterns and provides them with skills to respond constructively, even when emotionally triggered. Together, couples learn to speak and listen in ways that are authentic, partner-centered, and grounded in mutual respect.

Because Ivy understands the rigors of performing artists’ lives—unpredictable schedules, emotional highs and lows, financial uncertainties—she is especially attuned to couples and individuals in creative professions. When appropriate, she may weave in listening techniques from the theatre, and exercises to help people tap into their emotions. She is adept at working with creatives in their exploration of fame, rejection, successes and failures, instability, and how these issues affect relationships. Her experience as an artist & therapist helps couples feel truly understood.

Couples therapy lays a foundation not just for avoiding future problems, but for deepening your emotional bonds with your partner and family. Couples who engage in this process often report stronger connection, better conflict management, and a more collaborative approach to decision-making. In essence, what begins as preparation for marriage becomes an emotional rehearsal for life together. The insights learned here echo in how couples parent, plan careers, and weather change.

At Artful Couples Therapy, Ivy Austin offers a safe, attuned space for building that foundation—one rich in empathy, emotional intelligence, and artistry. Couples therapy isn’t about fixing what's broken; it’s about creating something beautiful together—a resilient partnership that is able to enjoy the sunshine, as well as weather a storm.