Couples Counselling Sydney
Stop Repeating the Same Arguments

Direct, practical relationship help
without taking sides.

Talk to Us Before You Book

When you keep having the same arguments, communication has broken down or you no longer feel as connected as you once did, it can be difficult to know how to change things.

Rapid Couples Counselling Sydney helps couples understand the patterns keeping their relationship stuck, communicate more effectively and make practical changes in everyday life.

We take a direct, impartial and action-focused approach. The goal isn’t to decide who is right or wrong. It’s to help both of you understand what’s happening, identify what you can each do differently and develop a clearer way forward.

When Your Relationship Feels Stuck

Perhaps you still love each other, but somehow you’ve lost your way.

  • Conversations turn into arguments.
  • The same issues keep coming back.
  • One of you pursues the conversation while the other shuts down.
  • Trust has been damaged.
  • Intimacy has disappeared.
  • You feel more like housemates than partners.

Or perhaps things have reached the point where you’re asking:

Can we actually fix this?

Couples often come to counselling after trying to sort things out themselves for months or even years.

Talking more isn’t always enough when the way you talk has become part of the problem.

That’s where an outside perspective can help.

A Different Approach to Couples Counselling

Direct

We believe difficult relationship issues need honest conversations.

That doesn’t mean being harsh or judgmental. It means being willing to identify what’s happening rather than avoiding it.

Impartial

Couples counselling shouldn’t feel like two people trying to convince a counsellor that the other person is the problem.

We don’t take sides.

Instead, we look at the relationship dynamic and help both partners understand the role they can play in changing it.

Practical

Insight matters, but it needs to translate into what happens when you go home.

We focus on practical changes and tools you can use in real conversations, disagreements and everyday situations.

Focused

We don’t explore something simply because it happened in the past.

Where previous experiences are relevant to what is happening between you now, we’ll look at them with a clear purpose: understanding the current pattern and helping you change it.

Rapid doesn’t mean rushed. It means focused.

Every relationship is different, and we don’t promise that a particular issue will be solved in a certain number of sessions.

Our aim is to make the work purposeful from the beginning.

What Can Couples Counselling Help With?

Couples come to us for many different reasons, including:

Communication Problems

You struggle to discuss important issues without becoming defensive, angry, withdrawn or misunderstood.

Repeating Arguments

You keep fighting about different subjects, but underneath them seems to be the same unresolved pattern.

Infidelity & Broken Trust

An affair, secret or betrayal, has changed how one or both of you see the relationship.

Emotional Disconnection

You care about each other but no longer feel close, understood or emotionally connected.

Sex & Intimacy

Affection or sexual intimacy has declined, disappeared or become a source of tension between you.

Parenting & Family Pressure

Differences over parenting, children, blended families, relatives or competing responsibilities are putting strain on your relationship.

Major Life Changes

Work pressure, financial stress, parenthood, relocation, illness or other changes have altered the relationship.

Deciding What Happens Next

Sometimes couples come to counselling unsure whether they can repair the relationship at all.

The first step is not pretending everything will work out. It’s getting clearer about what is happening and what each of you is willing to do next.

How Couples Counselling Works

1. Talk to Us First

Before booking, tell us a little about what is happening in your relationship.

We’ll explain our approach, answer your initial questions and help you decide whether the way we work feels appropriate for you.

2. Identify the Pattern

Your first sessions focus on understanding what is actually happening between you.

Not simply:

“What did you argue about?”

but:

“What keeps happening when the two of you get into difficulty?”

When the pattern becomes clearer, it becomes easier to see where change is possible.

3. Put Change Into Practice

Counselling needs to work outside the counselling room.

We’ll help you develop ways of responding, communicating and handling difficult moments differently so you can begin changing the relationship in everyday life.

We Don’t Take Sides

One of the biggest worries people have about couples counselling is:

“What if the counsellor sides with my partner?”

Our role isn’t to establish a winner and a loser.

And it isn’t to assume every problem is automatically 50/50.

Different situations involve different levels of responsibility.

Our job is to look clearly at what is happening, help each person understand the impact of their behaviour and focus on the things each of you genuinely has the ability to change.

Both people need the opportunity to feel heard.

Both people also need to be willing to look at themselves.

What If My Partner Doesn’t Want Couples Counselling?

This is extremely common.

One partner may be ready to get help while the other is sceptical, uncomfortable or convinced counselling will involve being blamed.

They may think:

“We’re not talking to a stranger about our relationship.”

“Counselling won’t change anything.”

“You’re just bringing me along so the counsellor can tell me I’m wrong.”

“I don’t want to spend months talking about our problems.”

You don’t need to force your partner into being enthusiastic about counselling.

They do, however, need to be willing to participate honestly enough for the process to be useful.

If one of you is uncertain, contact us before booking and ask your questions first.

Practical Help for the Relationship You Have Now

Understanding why a relationship developed particular patterns can be useful.

But understanding alone doesn’t necessarily change what happens on Tuesday night when you’re both tired and another argument starts.

Our focus is on connecting insight to action.

That might involve learning to recognise an argument before it escalates.

Communicating something difficult without automatically triggering the usual response.

Understanding what your partner is actually reacting to.

Taking responsibility without accepting blame for things that aren’t yours.

Changing behaviours that repeatedly damage trust or connection.

Discussing important issues instead of either exploding or avoiding them.

Rebuilding affection, teamwork and intimacy.

The aim is not to create a relationship with no disagreement.

It’s to help you deal with disagreement differently.

Meet Your Sydney Couples Counsellor

Chris Collingwood

More than 40 years helping people understand patterns, make meaningful changes and move forward.

When a relationship becomes stuck, couples often don’t need more of the same conversations. They need help seeing what keeps happening between them, why the pattern continues, and what each person can do differently.

Chris Collingwood brings more than four decades of experience in psychotherapy, counselling, coaching and human behaviour to his work with individuals and couples, including more than 35 years working with relationship issues.

His approach is direct, calm and practical.

Rather than taking sides or deciding who is right, Chris helps couples step back from the immediate argument and understand the pattern underneath it: how each person responds, what triggers the next reaction, and what keeps the relationship stuck.

From there, the focus turns to change.

That may mean communicating differently, responding differently when conflict begins, rebuilding trust, addressing emotional or physical disconnection, or becoming clearer about what each person needs from the relationship.

Chris believes insight matters, but insight on its own is not enough. Meaningful change comes when people can turn understanding into something they can actually do differently in everyday life.

His work is therefore focused on helping couples develop greater clarity, take responsibility for what is within their control, and build practical ways of relating that can continue outside the counselling room.

Experience & Qualifications

Chris has worked in private consultation since 1982 and has extensive experience in psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, communication and behavioural change.

His qualifications and professional training include:

  • Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology — Macquarie University
  • Master of Applied Science in Social Ecology — University of Western Sydney
  • Graduate Certificate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming
  • Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming in Marriage and Family Therapy
  • Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Over his career, Chris has also taught and trained extensively in communication, behavioural change, coaching and psychotherapy approaches in Australia and internationally.

Chris’s Approach to Couples Counselling

Chris’s approach can be summed up in four principles:

Direct

Difficult relationship problems need to be talked about honestly. Chris does not avoid important issues simply because they are uncomfortable.

Impartial

Couples counselling is not about creating a winner and a loser. Chris works to understand the relationship dynamic rather than automatically taking one person’s side.

Practical

The work needs to make a difference outside the counselling room. The focus is on helping couples develop useful ways of responding, communicating and dealing with difficult situations.

Focused

Chris looks for the patterns keeping the relationship stuck and concentrates on the areas where change can make the greatest difference.

His philosophy is simple:

Understand the pattern. Be honest about what is happening. Focus on what each person can change. Put that understanding into practice.

For couples who feel they have talked about the same problems repeatedly without getting anywhere, this creates a different starting point.

Couples Counselling Fees

Couples session: $320

Session length: 1hr

Location: 13 South Avenue, Double Bay, NSW 2029

Online sessions: Yes

There are no hidden program commitments.

Before booking, you’re welcome to contact us to explain your situation and ask whether our approach is likely to suit what you’re looking for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Couples counselling can help people understand recurring relationship patterns, communicate differently and work through difficult relationship issues.

No counsellor can guarantee that counselling will save a particular relationship.

The outcome also depends on factors such as the issues involved, how long they have been present and each person’s willingness to participate and make changes.

There isn’t one number that applies to every couple.

Some couples come with a relatively clear issue. Others are dealing with years of conflict, damaged trust or several problems at once.

We’ll focus on what you’re trying to change and review how the work is progressing rather than assuming you need an open-ended course of counselling.

Our role is not to decide which partner is the good person and which is the bad person.

We look at what is happening in the relationship while recognising that responsibility for particular behaviours or events is not necessarily equal.

The first session is about understanding what has brought you to counselling, what each of you sees as the main problem and what you would like to change.

We’ll begin identifying the patterns that occur when things go wrong and discuss where the work should focus.

You’re not alone.

Some couples come to us precisely because a previous counselling experience felt too vague, too passive or simply wasn’t the right fit.

Tell us what did and didn’t work previously. That information is useful.

Rapid doesn’t mean we rush you or promise to fix a relationship within a set number of sessions.

It describes our preference for focused, purposeful work.

We want to understand what is keeping you stuck and begin working on it rather than spending unnecessary sessions circling around the problem.

No.

Couples counselling is for people in committed relationships whether you’re married, engaged, living together or in a long-term partnership.

You don’t need to arrive already knowing the answer. Counselling can help you understand what has happened in your relationship, what would need to change and what each of you genuinely wants before making important decisions about your future.

No.

Where there is violence, coercive control, intimidation or an immediate concern about safety, conventional couples counselling may not be the appropriate starting point.

Tell us about relevant concerns when enquiring so that appropriate support can be considered.

Talk to Us Before You Book

Talk to Us Before You Book

You Don’t Have to Keep Having the Same Relationship Problem

You may have talked about it dozens of times.

You may both know something needs to change.

You may even know exactly how the next argument will unfold before it begins.

Knowing the pattern is there is not the same as knowing how to change it.

If you want practical, impartial help understanding what’s happening and finding a different way forward, start with a conversation.

Stop repeating the same arguments. Change the pattern.

Talk to Us Before You Book