Relationships & Dating Therapy

Casen Psychology | Sara Casen, PhD

What my clients often tell me….

I'm analytical, introspective, and intentional about cultivating meaningful relationships. Yet, despite my best efforts, I keep running into frustrating roadblocks on my dating journey.

I keep falling into relationships with people who just aren't right for me.

My partner and I have been having the same argument for the hundredth time, with nothing ever truly getting resolved.

The people closest to me leave me feeling drained.

You might be experiencing one or more of the following:

  • You get anxious when someone pulls away. You overanalyze texts, brace for rejection, or work hard to keep people close in ways that exhaust you.

  • Relational vulnerability feels threatening. When things get serious, you pull back without fully understanding why.

  • You are aware of what you want to communicate, but in the moment it doesn't actually come out that way. Conversations escalate, you shut down, or you say what the other person wants to hear. And nothing changes.

  • Dating feels like an endless loop. You meet someone, things seem promising, then something shifts. You're not sure if you're choosing the wrong people, pushing them away, or both.

  • With family, you're still playing a role you didn't choose. Setting limits feels impossible. You leave interactions feeling like a smaller version of yourself.

How can therapy help?

Often what brings people to therapy is trying to make sense of the turmoil when distressing relational cycles repeat. During our sessions, we look beneath the surface to try to understand the underlying blueprints shaping connections. Together, we gently unpack these hidden layers, aiming to cultivate self reflection, develop a robust toolkit based on our findings during our exploration, and parlay this into enhanced connection.

Through work done in therapy, people generally notice shifts in:

  • Navigating conflict: Moving through tension productively rather than merely surviving it

  • Articulating needs: Translating internal desires into clear, resonant communication

  • Reclaiming agency: Shifting from a passive recipient of relationship dynamics to an active co-creator

  • Self awareness: The likelihood of being blindsided by the same patterns are reduced

  • Feelings of empowerment: Increased confidence due to being equipped with tools to help navigate complex connections more effectively

Our work together

My general approach aims to bridge self-discovery with active behavioral change to help you start to reshape your relationships, and typically draws from a few different theoretical frameworks, including:

  • Attachment-focused: Mapping your foundational experiences to understand your current relational blueprints.

  • Psychodynamic exploration: Uncovering the origins of your relational patterns to understand what you learned about connection early on, and shedding light on how this early learning is manifesting now.

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Practical tools to work with the thoughts and behaviors maintaining certain patterns

Sessions are goal-directed. We track what's happening in your relationships in real time and actively workshop issues in session. I often give homework and reflection exercises to try, so the work can continue between sessions.

What to expect

In our initial session(s), I'll ask you to walk me through a highlight reel of your life emphasizing the relationships, experiences, and patterns you think are important for me to know. That conversation helps to shape our plan for working together to address your therapy goals.

We'll talk about what your goals are for therapy, and what changes you would like to see taking shape over time.

Might this be a good fit for you?

My practice specializes in helping adults in their 20s and 30s optimize complex interpersonal dynamics, including:

  • Stalled dating cycles: Breaking free from repetitive relationship patterns that seem to continually go sideways.

  • Stagnant partnerships: Infusing movement and clarity into relationships that currently feel stuck.

  • Generational family dynamics: Navigating and untangling long-standing, complicated family patterns.

Fees

I offer a complimentary phone consultation to discuss your needs, answer your questions, and ensure we are a good fit. During this call, we will also review scheduling and payment. I can provide a detailed superbill for you to submit to your insurance company if out-of-network reimbursement is a possibility. A limited number of sliding scale slots may be available for clients with financial need. Reach out and we can talk through what might be possible.

FAQ

  • That's a fair question. A lot depends on fit: the right approach, the right clinician, the right timing. Exploring what did not work previously is often an important conversation point in our initial conversations. Many people arrive here having already tried other approaches. It's worth a discussion before you make your final decision.

  • No. Some of the most useful relationship work happens when you're single or between relationships. Understanding your patterns before the next relationship begins is often a very efficient use of our time together.

  • It varies. Therapy duration is tailored to your unique needs and circumstances. Some clients see real shifts in a short time, and for others, it might take longer. It's important to continue to revisit therapy goals and reflect on where we are in the process as time goes on.

  • No. I work with individuals only. The work here focuses on your individual patterns, responses, and capacity to connect, whereas couples therapy may focus on addressing communication, conflict patterns, and trust in sessions involving both you and your partner.

Finding the right support is a journey.

If any of this resonated, a consultation call is a low-pressure way to continue to explore if my approach feels like the right fit for you.

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