Catherine Pfuntner

I saw my husband in a new light and much of my criticism and contempt has been replaced with curiosity and compassion.

I saw my husband in a new light and much of my criticism and contempt has been replaced with curiosity and compassion. We had tried couples therapy 18 years ago. It was at the beginning of our relationship. It was helpful, but we worked more on each individual than the actual relationship. I wanted to improve communication, conflict resolution, intimacy.

We liked Couples Therapy Inc’s credibility as indicated on the website and knowing that Gottman Approach and EFT would be employed.

Catherine Pfuntner created a safe container. I trusted her. She listened deeply. She clearly had studied the Big Big Book © and it was evident she understood the earlier life experiences that are still affecting us. That meant a lot to me. She was empathetic, compassionate. She was honest and set the stage early on that she would be interrupting at key moments to help show us a better way of communicating. We were receptive and we learned many new skills regarding vulnerability, communication, conflict resolution thanks to her expert facilitation. We are definitely going to keep working with her until we can hone our relationship skills. We are so grateful to Catherine for creating this opportunity for us to go deeper and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable with one another in a way that we would not have done without professional facilitation.

We’ve experienced re-connection at the heart level. And an open mind about the possibility for our future. We experienced vulnerability which opened us both up. We have new skills we are practicing and it is working. Avoiding the 4 horsemen; attempting repairs when we notice we are heading down the wrong road, and it is working! Seeking to understand before being understood. We both feel much closer, honest about the fact that we have a ways to go before we are skilled at communication and conflict resolution, but we are practicing, using our handouts as guides, and wanting to schedule more time with Catherine in the next few months so that we can keep progressing and address some of the more hot perpetual problems while she is present and can help coach us in our communication until we are more skilled on our own.

She is a brilliant, highly skilled therapist.

What would you say to couples that are considering working with Couples Therapy Inc.? Do it! It is the best investment if you truly want your relationship to not only survive, but to thrive! We were seriously questioning if we should stay together and after our intensive, our hearts were opened as we experienced vulnerability and honest sharing with one another as a result of the expert facilitation of our therapist. I saw my husband in a new light and much of my criticism and contempt has been replaced with curiosity and compassion. We now have the communication and conflict resolution skills that we were missing in our relationship tool box.

We have profound gratitude to all of you at Couples Therapy Inc. for providing the service that you do. From Dr. K and the leadership team, to the behind the scenes tech people, to Olivia and the administrative staff, and of course, Catherine, Gottman and all the other researchers that have developed effective methods of restoring and deepening relationships. Thank you!

Recent Client Reports

You all are amazing and we are very thankful for you all!

Catherine is amazing at what she does. She helped us to reinvent our relationship and how we communicate through issues and everyday living. She had the ability to call us out on our negative statements. We have a better understanding of one another’s barriers to communication.

We are very thankful for the whole process with CTI, from the initial consultation through follow-up. You all are amazing, and we are very thankful for you all!

We now have appreciation, gratitude, and understanding of one another

What would you say to couples that are considering working with Couples Therapy Inc.?

Do it! Take the plunge; you won’t regret it. The benefits outweigh the risk immensely.

Recent Client Reports

I chose CTI because of the BIG BIG Book ©

Our relationship was struggling – we both were trying really hard to communicate, but weren’t being heard/seen by the other person in the ways that we needed. There was a lot of hurt and defensiveness getting in the way of meaningful connection.

We had tried “standard” couples therapy before – 45 minute sessions once a week – and though there was some minimal value to it, I never felt like we got to the heart of many of our long-standing issues.

I wanted an intensive to help us fix our most common/destructive communication breakdowns so that we could begin to re-build our relationship. I chose CTI because of the BIG BIG Book ©. I liked the idea that we would both have an opportunity to put all of our history and concerns out for the therapist to see before meeting with her, so that we didn’t have to spend time in the in-person session going through all of that, and could jump right into the work.

I didn’t know, of course, if the therapist would be a good fit, and didn’t know if my partner would participate at a meaningful level.

We are only two weeks out, but already there has been a shift. I think the most significant shift is that we’re practicing daily appreciations and setting aside time for meaningful connection, which is helping to re-train our brains to see the GOOD in each other and to feel more affectionate and loving toward each other. We had both fallen into patterns of seeing mostly the negative in each other, and so this change towards a more positive view of each other has been really wonderful.

Catherine was WONDERFUL. She was warm and kind, but also very neutral and good at containing the conversation and redirecting us when we needed it. I felt very emotionally safe with her.

Would you recommend your couples therapist and Couples Therapy Inc.? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes – it was an important investment for us in this relationship! But I also recognize how expensive it is and how hard it could be for couples to find time (and childcare) to be able to get away for an intensive.

If you can spend the time and money to do it, you should 100% do it.

What three benefits resulted from working with Couples Therapy Inc.?

Identification of where we’re “missing” each other’s cues and how to tune in better. Identifying and implementing regular opportunities for appreciation/connection/etc. Acknowledgment that we can have hurt from the other person and also feel love and affection towards them – that those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive, and we can be working on both at the same time and keep them compartmentalized, rather than allowing the hurt to impact opportunities for affection.

Recent Client Reports