Extended Couple’s Sessions
Feel safe
with each other.
For real this time.
Ongoing couples sessions with Leana, for couples who want more than better fights. They want a relationship that actually feels like home.
Security isn't something a relationship has. It's something two people build, on purpose, together, over time.
What this work is about
Most couples try to fight better.
This helps you need each other differently.
Here's something most couples don't know: the fights aren't really the problem. The problem is what happens in your body when things go wrong between you. One of you shuts down. The other pushes harder. You both end up feeling alone, even in the same room.
These aren't bad habits. They're patterns your body learned a long time ago, long before you met each other. And they play out on repeat until something changes at a deeper level.
That's what this work is for. In extended sessions with Leana, you'll learn to understand what's happening between you,not just during the fight, but in the moment before it starts. Over time, you stop triggering each other and start feeling safe with each other instead.
It's deep work. But the change sticks because it goes all the way down to the root.
Everyone Is Welcome Here
I work with all kinds of couples, straight, same-sex, trans, and gender-nonconforming. I also work with partners navigating the hard stuff: broken trust, betrayal, and the ripple effects of substance abuse.
Whatever brought you here, you're in the right place.
What it means to be a secure couple.
Every session with Leana is built around these six ideas. They're simple. But when couples actually live by them, everything changes.
Both of you feel safe, or neither does
If one person feels scared or hurt, the relationship isn't working right. Your job is to make sure your partner feels safe with you — and theirs is to do the same for you.
Fix it fast and fix it fully
Every couple has rough moments. What matters is how quickly you come back to each other. The goal isn't to never hurt each other, it's to know how to repair when you do.
What's good must be good for both
One person shouldn't keep giving while the other keeps taking. When things feel fair for both of you, trust grows. When they don't, resentment does.
You calm each other down
Your bodies actually affect each other, your tone, your face, even your breathing. A secure couple learns to use that connection on purpose. You become the person who helps your partner feel okay again.
The relationship comes first
You're a team. That means you make choices with both of you in mind, not just yourself. When the relationship wins, you both win.
Never threaten the relationship
Saying "I'm done" or "maybe we should break up" during a fight destroys the safety you've built. The relationship itself is always protected — no matter how hard the conversation gets.
The goal isn't a relationship without hard moments. It's a relationship where hard moments don't shake the ground you stand on.
What to Expect
We start by slowing down.
In our sessions, I watch what's happening between you in real time, the small shifts in your face, your voice, the way your body responds before your words do. I help you and your partner start seeing those things in each other, too. That's where understanding begins.
Sessions are up to two hours long. Both partners need to be there, because the relationship is what we're working on, together.
Most couples work with me twice per month for six months to a year. Many are able to meet less often after the first few months, as things begin to settle and strengthen.
I highly recommend Dr. Tatkin’s audible download "Your Brain on Love." Listening to it will save you time and money in couple therapy, and who doesn't want that?
Before and after this work.
This isn't just about fighting less. It's about how you feel when you're with each other every day.
Before
You keep having the same fight and it never really ends
After
You know how to fully repair, so old hurts don't keep piling up
Before
One of you shuts down and the other chases, and you can't stop the cycle
After
You can see the pattern starting and stop it before it takes over
Before
You make up but something still feels unfinished, like it's just waiting to come back
After
Being with your partner feels easy, like you can finally breathe
Before
You feel like you're walking on eggshells, always bracing for the next hard moment
After
You understand what your partner needs in those moments and you know how to reach them
Before
You love each other but the relationship doesn't feel like a safe place
After
Your relationship is the most reliable, safe place either of you has, and you both feel it
Not sure where to start?
A lot of couples begin with a one-day Couples Retreat, a focused day to break through something stuck, and then move into regular sessions to keep building. Others come straight into ongoing work. A free call with Leana helps you figure out which path makes sense for you.
About your therapist
Leana Sykes
M.Ed, LPC, ACS — PACT & EFT Trained
I've spent 25 years working with couples. And the thing I've learned is this: most couples aren't broken. They're just stuck in patterns that made sense once and haven't figured out how to get out.
When couples do this work with real commitment, the change isn't small. The relationship becomes something genuinely different. Not perfect. But safe. And that changes everything.
I'm warm and I'm direct. You'll feel at ease here, and you'll also be gently pushed. I think that mix is what makes real change possible.