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Core Service · ACA Accredited · Gottman + EFT

Couples &
relationship
counselling.

Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman Method — integrated to work at the level of the bond itself, not just the behaviour. For couples at every stage, in every kind of pain.

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ACA Accredited Gottman Method EFT Trained IPNB-Informed Victorian Father of the Year Telehealth Australia-Wide

"We still love each other. We've just lost the ability to reach each other — and every time we try, it turns into the same argument."

The most common thing couples say in a first session

If that's where you are — you are not too far gone. The cycle you're in is not a character flaw. It's an attachment pattern. And attachment patterns, understood and worked with correctly, change.

The emotional truth surfaces
Fear beneath the anger. Longing beneath the withdrawal. When both partners can hear the primary emotion, the dynamic shifts — often permanently.
The cycle gets a name — and stops being personal
When couples understand their nervous systems, they stop experiencing each other as the enemy. The reframe from "you are broken" to "we are in a cycle" changes everything.
Skills become genuinely usable
Gottman's tools only land on a foundation of emotional safety. We build the safety first — then the skills follow and actually stick.
The relationship self-corrects
The goal: a relationship that doesn't need the therapist in the room. Couples leave with a shared framework and repair built in.
Who We See

Do you recognise
your relationship here?

These are the most common presentations. You may recognise one precisely — or elements of several. Either way, there is a pathway here for you.

Most Common
The couple in quiet disconnection

"We don't really fight anymore. We just don't really talk. We're polite. We parent fine. But somewhere the actual relationship disappeared and neither of us can say exactly when."

Polite distance — parallel lives in the same house
Physical and emotional intimacy fading without drama
Love present — connection missing
Neither partner sure when it changed
Very Common
The pursuer-withdrawer cycle

"Every time I try to raise it, they shut down. I push harder. They go quieter. I feel like I'm losing my mind. They feel constantly attacked. Nothing ever resolves."

One escalates, one withdraws — neither can stop
Same argument on repeat, never actually resolved
Criticism and defensiveness as the default mode
Repair attempts that land wrong or get rejected
Common
One foot out the door

"I love them but I'm not sure I'm in love anymore. Or maybe I am and I've just forgotten what it feels like. I genuinely can't tell which it is."

Ambivalence — not ready to leave, not sure how to stay
One or both partners considering separation
Trust broken — emotional or physical breach
Hope fading but not gone
Common — Post-Affair / Betrayal
Trust rupture and attachment injury

"I want to trust them again. I don't know how. Or if I can. Or if they understand what it actually did to me. Some days I think we could recover — and other days I can't see how."

Affair, emotional betrayal, or significant failure of protection
The offending partner wanting to repair but not knowing how
The hurt partner oscillating between wanting to reconnect and pulling away
Trust as the central therapeutic target — EFT attachment injury protocol
Deep Specialisation
Since the baby, everything changed

"We were solid before the baby. Now we can barely be in the same room without tension. I don't know who we are anymore — or if we still want the same things."

Disconnection that arrived with parenthood
Invisible labour, identity rupture, accumulating resentment
Co-parenting functional — couple relationship gone
Father disengagement as a presenting dynamic
Our Parenthood Specialisation →
Individual · Couples-Oriented
My partner won't come

"They don't think we need help. Or they're not ready. I need to do something — I can't just wait. But I don't know what individual therapy can actually change if they won't engage."

One-person couples-oriented work — shifts the relational system
Frequently brings the other partner in within 2–3 months
Work on your own patterns, triggers, and contributions
A strong place to start when the other isn't ready
Our Clinical Approach

Heart. Understanding. Skills.
In that order — always.

Most couples don't need better communication skills. They need to understand the emotional logic underneath the argument — and feel genuinely safe with each other again. We start there.

E
Step 01 · We Start Here
Emotionally Focused Therapy

EFT gets underneath the argument to the emotional truth. Before couples can build new patterns, they need to understand the emotional logic of the old ones — naming the cycle without blame, accessing the primary emotions beneath the surface anger. The fear beneath the pursuit. The longing beneath the withdrawal. When this becomes visible to both partners, the dynamic shifts — not because anyone told them to, but because they finally understand each other.

Negative Cycle Mapping Primary Emotion Access Hold Me Tight Attachment Injury Protocol De-escalation
A
Step 02 · The Understanding
Attachment & Neurobiology

Attachment is a neurobiological system active throughout adult life. Polyvagal Theory explains what's happening in both nervous systems during the cycle — neuroception is driving threat responses before either partner has said a word. When couples understand this, they stop experiencing each other as the problem. That reframe — from "you are broken" to "we are in a cycle driven by our nervous systems" — is often the most important shift of the entire therapy.

Adult Attachment Polyvagal Theory IPNB · Siegel Window of Tolerance Regulation Theory
G
Step 03 · The Skills
Gottman Method

With emotional safety established and attachment understood, Gottman's tools become genuinely usable — not rehearsed scripts, but real skills on a foundation of mutual understanding. Forty years of research. The most rigorous observational study of couples ever conducted. Precise, learnable tools for what to do differently in the moments that count — and repair strategies that outlast the therapy room.

Four Horsemen Antidotes Bids for Connection Repair Attempts Sound Relationship House Physiological Soothing
What Changes 01
The emotional truth surfaces

Fear beneath anger. Longing beneath withdrawal. When both partners can hear the primary emotion rather than the defensive behaviour, the dynamic shifts. Often permanently.

What Changes 02
The attachment bond reorganises

When a partner's fear is met with care instead of counter-attack, the nervous system registers safety. The bond updates at a felt level, not just a cognitive one.

What Changes 03
The cycle has a name

Couples with a shared language for their pattern stop experiencing each other as the enemy. That understanding is itself therapeutic — and durable.

What Changes 04
The relationship self-corrects

The goal is repair built in — a relationship that doesn't need the therapist in the room. Couples leave with a shared framework and concrete skills they own.

All Formats

Every way to work
with us.

In person in the Macedon Ranges or telehealth across Australia. Evening appointments Wednesday to Friday until 8pm. No referral required.

Core Service · Most Common
Weekly Couples Counselling

The core offering — regular weekly or fortnightly sessions, Gottman and EFT integrated. The therapeutic relationship builds over time. Most meaningful change happens in the 6–20 session range depending on the depth of disconnection.

50–60 minute sessions
Weekly or fortnightly
Most couples: 6–10 sessions to meaningful shift
In person or telehealth
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Intensive Format
Relationship Rebalance Intensive

For couples who need to move faster than weekly sessions allow — or who are at a genuine decision point. A structured 2-day intensive compresses months of weekly work into an immersive format with real depth.

2-day structured format
Full Gottman assessment included
EFT restructuring work
1 follow-up session included
In person or telehealth
Enquire
Discernment · Ambivalence
Discernment Counselling

Not couples therapy. A structured 1–5 session process specifically for couples where one or both partners are ambivalent about whether to continue the relationship. No advocacy for either outcome — clarity is the only goal.

1–5 sessions (brief, structured)
Appropriate when standard couples therapy is contraindicated
No pressure in either direction
Clarity — not persuasion — is the goal
Enquire
Online · Australia-Wide
Telehealth Couples Counselling

The same clinical quality — Gottman, EFT, neuroscience-informed — via secure video. No compromise on depth or therapeutic relationship. Evening appointments available to 8pm.

Secure video platform
Available Australia-wide
Evening appointments to 8pm
Ideal for shift workers, regional couples, travel
Book Online
Individual · Couples-Oriented
When One Partner Comes Alone

Your partner won't come, or isn't ready yet. Individual couples-oriented work shifts the relational system from one person — and frequently brings the other partner in within a few months. A genuinely strong place to start.

Individual sessions with a relational focus
Works on your patterns, contributions, and triggers
Changes the dynamic — which changes what's possible
Frequently leads to couples work within 2–3 months
Enquire
Specialist Program · Next Intake May 2026
Bringing Baby Home

The Gottman Institute's certified perinatal couples program. Evidence-based prevention for the most under-supported relational transition in adult life. 8-week group program or weekend intensive.

8 modules · 90 min per session
Gottman Institute certified program
Group or private format available
Next intake: May 2026
Learn More →
Is This Right For Us?

It works when both partners are willing to engage.

You don't have to be optimistic. You don't have to be on the same page about whether the relationship can survive. You just have to be willing to show up and engage honestly with the process.

70–75%

of distressed couples move from crisis to recovery with EFT — and gains are maintained at 6-month follow-up. This is not soft data. It's from the most rigorous couples research ever conducted.

Book the Free 20-Min Consult
Couples who've tried therapy before and it didn't work

Most therapy-that-didn't-work experiences involved a general practitioner without specialist couples training. Gottman and EFT are specific, evidence-based frameworks developed from decades of research. The approach here is different in kind, not just style.

One partner is significantly more motivated than the other

Asymmetric motivation is very common and workable. The work doesn't require both partners to arrive equally invested — it requires both to be willing to engage honestly with the process once they're in the room. The consult is the right place to explore this.

The couple is in genuine crisis / considering separation

Crisis presentations are appropriate for this practice. EFT works in the rupture zone. If ambivalence is the primary issue rather than distress, Discernment Counselling may be the right starting point — and that's a conversation for the free consult.

Geographic barriers — regional, rural, or travel

Telehealth delivers the full therapeutic experience — same methods, same clinical depth, evening appointments to 8pm. Couples from across Australia access this practice via secure video.

The couple doesn't have children

Couples without children are absolutely the right fit for this practice. Gottman and EFT apply equally to couples at any life stage — pre-children, post-children, midlife, long-term partnership. Disconnection and the negative cycle don't require parenthood to develop.

Active conflict and the Four Horsemen well-established

Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling — Gottman identified these as the predictors of breakdown with 90% accuracy. That means they're not a death sentence — they're a clinical target. EFT creates the safety. Gottman gives you the antidotes.

What to Expect

How it works.

Step 01
Free 20-Min Consult

A phone or video conversation — no clinical intake, no assessment, no obligation. You'll leave knowing whether this practice is the right fit and what the next step looks like. Book via Calendly. No referral required.

Step 02
Initial Session

A 60-minute first session together. The focus is on understanding your story — what's happening, how long, and what you've already tried. No premature advice. No homework. Just listening and beginning to understand the cycle.

Step 03
Assessment & Direction

By session 2–3, a clear sense of the clinical picture and the recommended approach. Gottman assessment may be incorporated — a structured tool that maps strengths and areas of concern across the relationship.

Step 04
The Work

EFT, Gottman, and neuroscience-informed work — in the sequence that makes change stick. Most couples see meaningful shift within 6–10 sessions. The work continues until you feel genuinely equipped to sustain it without the room.

Common Questions

Before you
reach out.

Honest answers to what most couples ask before they book. No clinical language, no pressure.

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It's one of the most common situations we work with. Individual couples-oriented sessions work with one person on the relational system — and frequently shift the dynamic enough that the other partner becomes willing within a few months. Sometimes one person doing the work is exactly what the relationship needs first. The free consult is a good place to think through this together.
Most couples' experiences with therapy that didn't work involved a practitioner without specific couples training using a general approach. Gottman and EFT are specific, evidence-based frameworks — not general counselling applied to two people. The sequence matters too: skills-first approaches often fail because they skip the emotional safety that makes skills usable. The approach here is genuinely different in kind, not just style.
Couples counselling is not covered by Medicare in Australia, and most private health funds don't cover it either. Individual sessions within a couples-oriented process may be claimable in some circumstances — worth discussing at the free consult. No commitment is required at the consultation.
Gottman research suggests 12–20 sessions for significant distress. Many couples see meaningful shift earlier — in 6–8 sessions. The depth of disconnection and the engagement of both partners are the key variables. The 2-day intensive compresses the work significantly for couples who need to move quickly or who don't want to commit to months of weekly sessions upfront. We'll give you an honest picture at the free consult.
EFT works at the emotional and attachment level — identifying the negative cycle without blame, accessing the primary emotions beneath it, restructuring the bond. It changes how partners feel about each other at a felt, neurobiological level. Gottman works at the behavioural and structural level — the Four Horsemen, Bids for Connection, repair attempts, the Sound Relationship House. We integrate them in sequence: EFT creates the safety and attachment reorganisation that makes Gottman's tools genuinely usable rather than felt as techniques.
Ambivalence is welcome here and is extremely common. We don't take a position on whether you should stay together — that is genuinely not our role. If both partners are somewhat ambivalent, Discernment Counselling (a structured 1–5 session process) may be more appropriate than couples therapy. It holds the question without pressure and is designed to create clarity rather than advocate for either outcome. The free consult is the right place to figure out which process fits your situation.
A 20-minute phone or video call. No clinical intake form, no assessment, no obligation. A conversation about where you are and whether this practice is the right fit. You'll leave with a clear sense of the recommended pathway, what it involves, and what the next step looks like. Book through Calendly — no referral required.
Take the First Step

You don't have to know
what you need. Just reach out.

A free 20-minute phone consultation. No pressure. No clinical language. Just a conversation about where you are and whether we're the right fit for where you want to go.

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📞 0406 020 577 ✉ info@rangescounselling.com 🕐 Wed–Fri 9am–8pm · Sat 9am–12pm