Suffolk County Marriage Counseling by The Holistic Counseling Center of Long Island

Communication is key to a successful & happy marriage.

Through Imago Relationship Therapy, couples are given tools to communicate with one another, which results in favorable outcomes for both. An Imago therapist outlines steps for which each individual takes to give each other a time to talk and a time to listen. Both parties get a time for both.

Often, people just need to feel heard. What does that really mean? To have someone actually hear what you’re saying, digest it, empathize with it, and validate your individual feelings.

Imago Relationship Therapy was co-developed by married couple Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt in 1980. It was popularized in Dr. Hendrix’s New York Times best seller Getting The Love You Want. The technique uses Imago Dialogue to help couples understand, validate and empathize with one another’s unique reality, rather than resorting to anger and reactivity.

Imago, the Latin word for Image, refers to our familiar, unconscious image of love.

The theory behind imago is that because emotional and psychological experiences with our parents or caretakers were so impactful, we unconsciously seek out people in our adult life who are similar to the same interactions that you experienced as a child.

We associate both the negative and the positive interactions we had with our caretakers as things we need in adult relationships. Then, we fulfill the qualities that we either got or didn’t receive during our childhood.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about therapy or making an appointment at the Holistic Counseling Center of Long Island.

Suffolk County Marriage Counseling Services with Imago Relationship Therapists