Healing Couples and Families: Tenacity Counseling Center

Yanira Uresti
Mar 22
3 min read

Healthy relationships are foundational to emotional well-being—but even the most connected couples and families encounter seasons of difficulty. At Tenacity Counseling Center, we offer therapy for couples and families grounded in evidence-based approaches and real-life compassion. Whether you’re facing communication breakdowns, role confusion, or emotional distance, we provide a supportive and strategic path toward healing.

🔍 Why Do Couples and Families Struggle?

Relationship challenges don’t emerge out of nowhere—they often stem from underlying stress, emotional injuries, or unmet needs. These patterns build over time and may include:

Attachment Injuries: Unresolved pain from past conflict or betrayal can create emotional distance or hypervigilance in relationships.
Stress & Transitions: Life changes—illness, parenthood, job loss, caregiving—can shift priorities and strain connection.
Poor Communication Models: Many people were never taught how to express needs or navigate conflict constructively.
Generational Patterns: Unexamined family dynamics (e.g., roles, expectations, emotional avoidance) often resurface in partnerships.
Cultural Pressures & Identity: Navigating societal norms, racial identity, gender roles, or LGBTQIA+ visibility can add stress to relational dynamics.

Research shows that couples often wait 6 years after problems begin before seeking therapy-by then, patterns are entrenched (Gottman & Silver, 2015). Early intervention makes a difference.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What Works in Couples & Family Therapy?

At Tenacity Counseling Center, we integrate research-backed methods to support real, lasting change:

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) helps partners access vulnerable emotions and build secure, responsive bonds.
The Gottman Method provides tools to de-escalate conflict, enhance friendship, and build shared meaning.
Narrative Therapy empowers families to re-author the stories they carry and shift from blame to agency.

"Secure emotional connection-not perfect communication-is the strongest predictor of long-term relationship success."-Johnson, S.M. (2004)

💬 Common Issues We Address

Frequent arguments, emotional distance, or silent withdrawal
Feeling unseen, unheard, or unappreciated
Infidelity recovery or rebuilding trust
Parenting disagreements or role confusion
Grief, illness, or crisis impacting the family system

💡 Tips for Couples & Families

Name the Pattern, Not the Person
Example: “We fall into a loop where I shut down, and you get louder” is more productive than “You always yell.”
Prioritize Curiosity Over Control
Ask: “Help me understand what’s underneath that feeling?” instead of reacting defensively.
Reconnect Through Small Moments
Long-term closeness is built in the micro-moments—checking in, saying thank you, noticing effort.
Allow for Imperfection
Repair—not perfection—is the goal. Every rupture is a chance to practice connection.
Therapy Is a Strength, Not a Last Resort
Getting support before a crisis makes growth and change easier.

🌱 Why Tenacity?

At Tenacity Counseling Center, therapy is never one-size-fits-all. Sessions are tailored with respect for culture, identity, family history, and lived experience—including that of the provider, who brings both clinical training and the firsthand insight of being married for over 20 years.

This lived experience adds depth to couples work—understanding not only the theory behind relationship dynamics but also the real-world patience, growth, and grace long-term commitment requires. Clients benefit from a therapist who knows what it takes to weather life’s seasons side by side.

Services include:

Couples therapy for all partnership structures
Family therapy across generations
Support for illness-related relational strain
Telehealth and in-person options throughout Texas

📚 Professional References

Johnson, S. M. (2004). The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Routledge.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Harmony Books.
White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. Norton & Company.