Relationship Therapy

We are all hardwired for connection. In fact it is our most basic human need. Our survival is dependent on whether or not we have someone we can turn to when we are most vulnerable.  This is why it feels wonderful when our most important relationships are solid and practically unbearable when they are not. Couples who feel close and secure are better able to  face life’s challenges, together.   

You may experience relationship issues in a variety of ways such as:

  • Conflict in our significant relationships
  • Death of a loved one
  • Divorce or break-ups
  • Affairs, betrayal and loss of trust
  • Loneliness and isolation

It is our mission at Arizona Connection Counseling to help you develop and maintain satisfying personal relationships.  

Our therapists have specialized training and experience in the most effective methods including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) which has been clinically proven to be the most effective approach to helping couples develop greater emotional security and intimacy. EFT also helps couples repair, reconnect and rebuild trust whether you are stuck in relationship conflict or perhaps finding your way back from infidelity. 

Our therapists also utilize methods based on Gottman’s research to help couples develop better communication skills.

Therapists who provide couples counseling:

Eating Disorders - It's Not About the Food

By Kelly Lopez

If it’s not about the food, what is it really about?

The eating disorder serves a function, it does a job. Despite the problems an eating disorder creates, it is an effort to cope, shield against, communicate, and solve problems. Behaviors may be a way to establish a sense of power or control, self-worth, strength, and containment. Bringing may be used to numb pain. Purging may be a way to release emotions. When one cannot cope in healthy ways, adaptive functions (behaviors) are created to ensure a sense of safety, security, and control.
According to Carolyn Costin*, some of the “adaptive functions that eating disorder behaviors commonly serve are”:
It’s not about the food, it’s a way of coping with low self-esteem, negative emotions, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, unstable home, difficulty resolving conflict and much more.
*Costin, Carolyn. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Causes, Treatments and Prevention of Eating Disorders. 3rd. edition, McGraw Hill, 2007.
Fuller, Kristen. “Eating Disorders: It’s Not All about Food.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 Mar. 2017