Maryam Nateghi
I’m a couples therapist helping partners work through recurring conflict, communication breakdowns, and emotional disconnection. My focus is on how ADHD, anxiety, and attachment wounds show up in relationships. You might notice that one of you shuts down or becomes overwhelmed while the other pushes harder for connection, answers, or reassurance.
My approach is both compassionate and direct, I’ll support you, but I’ll also challenge you to grow.
You may care about each other but feel worn down by repeated arguments or feel more like roommates than partners. I help couples slow these moments down, understand what happens between them, and learn to express their needs and respond to each other with more care.
First session
In our first session, I will take time to understand what brings you to couples therapy, the patterns you keep getting stuck in, and what each of you hopes will change. I will ask about your relationship history, current concerns, strengths, and the ways ADHD, anxiety, stress, or past experiences may be affecting your connection. You can expect a calm, structured conversation where both partners have space to speak and feel heard. I will also explain how I work, answer your questions, and help us identify clear goals for therapy. You do not need to have everything figured out before we meet.
Strengths
My style is warm, direct, and practical. I make room for both partners to feel heard, and I’m honest about the patterns that keep you stuck. My experience working with individuals and couples helps me recognize how each person’s struggles affect what happens between you. I draw on training in the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy to help you understand your conflict cycle and work through it together. In sessions, I help you slow down difficult conversations, put words to what you’re feeling and needing, and practice responding to each other differently. We also work on practical ways to repair after arguments and build connection outside of therapy.
Ideal clients
My ideal clients are couples who care deeply about each other but feel stuck in the same painful patterns. They may struggle with repeated arguments, emotional distance, resentment, defensiveness, or a cycle where one partner pursues connection while the other shuts down or becomes overwhelmed. I especially enjoy working with couples who want to understand how ADHD, anxiety, attachment wounds, stress, or past experiences may be affecting their relationship. They are open to looking at their own patterns, learning new ways to communicate, and doing the work needed to rebuild trust, emotional safety, and connection.
Treatment methods
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
I use Emotionally Focused Therapy to help couples identify the negative cycle they keep getting pulled into and understand the deeper emotions and attachment needs underneath their reactions. Instead of treating one partner as the problem, we look at how both partners become caught in a pattern that leaves them feeling hurt, disconnected, or unsafe. I have completed the EFT Externship and Core Skills trainings. This training helps me slow down difficult interactions, support each partner in expressing what is happening beneath anger, defensiveness, withdrawal, or criticism, and help couples build more emotional safety and connection.
Gottman method
I use the Gottman Method to help couples understand the patterns that are damaging their connection and learn practical skills for changing them. I have completed Levels 1 and 2 of Gottman Method Couples Therapy training. This approach helps me assess the couple’s strengths and areas of concern, identify patterns such as criticism, defensiveness, contempt, or shutting down, and teach skills for managing conflict more effectively. I also use Gottman-based tools to help couples strengthen friendship, improve communication, repair after arguments, and rebuild trust and emotional connection.
Couples Counseling
I provide couples counseling for partners who feel stuck in repeated conflict, communication breakdowns, emotional distance, or resentment. I help couples understand the pattern they keep getting pulled into, rather than focusing on which partner is right or wrong. My approach is active, structured, and practical. I help both partners feel heard, identify what is happening underneath their reactions, and practice new ways of communicating and responding to each other. I also consider how ADHD, anxiety, attachment wounds, stress, and past experiences may be affecting the relationship.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I approach couples therapy with cultural sensitivity and curiosity. I consider how culture, family expectations, immigration experiences, language, gender roles, religion, and community values may shape each partner’s beliefs, communication style, and expectations of the relationship. I speak both English and Farsi and can provide therapy in either language. I work to understand each partner’s background and help couples build a relationship that reflects their shared values while respecting meaningful differences.
Psychoeducation
I use psychoeducation to help couples understand the patterns affecting their relationship. This may include learning how ADHD, anxiety, attachment, emotional flooding, stress, and past experiences influence communication and conflict. Understanding the reason behind a reaction does not excuse hurtful behavior, but it can reduce blame and help couples respond more intentionally. I explain these concepts in clear, practical language and help couples apply what they learn outside of therapy.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
Serves
Licensed in
- CaliforniaLicense 6487