At City Lights Psychology, couples therapy is designed to help partners understand and shift the patterns that create conflict, emotional distance, or disconnection within a relationship.
Licensed Psychologists | In-Person & Virtual Sessions | Flatiron, Manhattan
We provide personalized psychological services designed to support healing, growth, and lasting emotional well-being.
Couples who care about each other but feel increasingly distant, disconnected, or emotionally unavailable within the relationship.
Professionals and high-achieving couples balancing demanding careers, parenting responsibilities, stress, or burnout that has started affecting emotional connection and communication.
Partners working through infidelity, secrecy, emotional withdrawal, or breaches of trust that have impacted emotional safety within the relationship.
Partners navigating marriage, pregnancy, postpartum changes, fertility challenges, relocation, parenting stress, or major shifts in identity and responsibility.
Couples exploring consensual non-monogamy, relationship restructuring, boundary-setting, or communication challenges within alternative relationship dynamics.
Partners who feel stuck in repetitive arguments, unresolved tension, or communication cycles that escalate quickly and leave both individuals feeling misunderstood or emotionally exhausted.
Across couples, certain patterns tend to repeat over time:
One partner pushes for discussion or reassurance while the other becomes distant, shut down, or avoidant.
Arguments escalate quickly because deeper feelings such as rejection, criticism, or abandonment are being triggered underneath the surface issue.
Conversations may end, but emotional resolution never fully happens, leading to lingering resentment or emotional distance.
One partner consistently takes on responsibility, emotional labor, or problem-solving while the other withdraws or disengages.<br>
These patterns are not personality flaws. They are relational dynamics that can become more flexible and healthier through therapy.
Dr. Simon works with couples navigating conflict, emotional disconnection, trust concerns, anxiety within relationships, and major life transitions. Her approach integrates Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFCT), psychodynamic insight, and structured communication work to help couples build stronger emotional connection and stability.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist | Specialized in Couples Therapy, Anxiety & Relationship Dynamics
Dr. Chen also offers couples therapy, bringing a culturally informed perspective particularly supportive for Asian and bicultural couples navigating relationship conflict, intergenerational dynamics, and identity concerns. She provides sessions in both English and Mandarin Chinese.
Flatiron + Virtual in NY, NJ & FL
Dr. Shimony works with couples and individuals navigating relationship distress, life transitions, and anxiety. Her integrative approach draws on EFT, CBT, and Psychodynamic Therapy to support couples in building resilience and stronger emotional connection.
Flatiron + Virtual in NY & NJ
Dr. Do provides warm, collaborative therapy grounded in attachment-focused and culturally responsive care. She supports individuals navigating anxiety, mood concerns, relationships, life transitions, identity, and perinatal changes.
Her approach combines deep self-understanding with practical CBT and DBT skills to help clients build resilience, strengthen relationships, and create lasting change.
Flatiron + Virtual in NY
EFCT helps couples identify and shift the emotional interaction cycles driving conflict and disconnection. The focus is on improving emotional responsiveness, safety, and attachment within the relationship.
We incorporate practical tools for communication, conflict management, emotional repair, and strengthening friendship and trust within the relationship.
Therapy also explores how past experiences, attachment styles, and emotional histories influence present-day relationship dynamics and conflict patterns.
When emotional intensity makes communication difficult, DBT-informed strategies are used to support regulation, distress tolerance, and more productive conversations.
We discuss your concerns, relationship dynamics, therapy goals, and whether couples therapy feels like the right fit for your situation.
Early sessions focus on understanding your relationship history, identifying recurring interaction patterns, and clarifying areas of conflict or disconnection.
Sessions focus on communication patterns, emotional reactions, conflict cycles, trust concerns, and practicing healthier ways of relating in real time.
As therapy progresses, the focus shifts toward reinforcing healthier communication, emotional safety, and sustainable relationship changes outside of sessions.
City Lights Psychology is primarily an out-of-network practice.
We provide superbills that can be submitted to your insurance provider for reimbursement. We recommend contacting your insurance company to understand your deductible, reimbursement rate, and out-of-network mental health coverage.
HSA/FSA payments and standard payment methods are also accepted and can be arranged during intake.
Note** – Yes, We accept FSA/HSA and we do provide Superbills.
Not necessarily. It is common for one partner to feel more motivated initially. Therapy often becomes more productive once both individuals begin feeling heard and understood within the process.
Yes. Many couples seek therapy because of emotional distance, communication difficulties, loss of intimacy, or repeated unresolved tension, even without frequent arguments.
No. We work with dating couples, long-term partners, engaged couples, married couples, and non-traditional relationship structures.
Part of therapy involves learning how to stay engaged during difficult conversations without escalating or shutting down. The therapist actively helps guide and regulate these interactions.
In many cases, yes, depending on licensing requirements and location. This can be discussed during the consultation process.
Most couples begin with weekly sessions to build consistency and momentum before adjusting frequency based on progress and goals.
In-person sessions provide a structured, private environment for focused relational work and guided communication.
Virtual sessions are often preferred by busy professionals, parents, long-distance couples, or partners managing demanding schedules.
