Couples Therapy and Marriage Counseling in St. Petersburg, FL
Reconnect.
Communicate.
Heal.
Your Relationship Matters.
Lately, it feels like you and your partner are speaking different languages.
The same arguments keep happening, but nothing really gets resolved.
You feel misunderstood, unseen, or unheard in your relationship.
Resentment is building, and intimacy feels distant—or nonexistent.
You love each other, but something feels off, and you don’t know how to fix it.
Maybe you’ve been wondering:
💭 Can couples counseling actually help us?
💭 Will therapy help us communicate better?
💭 What if we’ve waited too long to fix this?
Here’s the truth—relationships take work. But the good news? You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Common Reasons Couples Go To Therapy
Every relationship faces challenges, but when certain issues go unresolved, they can chip away at connection, trust, and happiness. Here are some of the most common struggles couples bring to therapy:
Communication & Conflict
Constant misunderstandings, arguments, or shutting down
Feeling like you’re not being heard or understood
Struggling to express needs, boundaries, or emotions without fighting
One partner withdrawing while the other pushes for more connection
Emotional & Physical Intimacy
Feeling more like roommates than romantic partners
A lack of affection, closeness, or deep conversations
Differences in love languages and ways of expressing care
Struggles with physical intimacy or mismatched sex drives
Mismatched Expectations & Values
Disagreements about finances, parenting, or future goals
One partner craving more independence, the other needing more connection
Struggles with religious, cultural, or personal values
Trust & Betrayal
Healing from infidelity or emotional affairs
Feeling insecure or jealous in the relationship
Struggles with honesty, secrecy, or broken trust
Rebuilding safety and learning to trust again
Major Life Transitions
Adjusting to marriage, engagement, or a new commitment
Pregnancy, parenting struggles, or infertility challenges
Navigating financial stress, career changes, or relocations
Blending families or setting boundaries with in-laws
Attachment & Past Experiences
Differences in attachment styles (one needing closeness, the other needing space)
Past trauma or childhood wounds affecting the relationship
Repeating unhealthy patterns from previous relationships
Feeling like your partner isn’t emotionally available
💡 If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone—and couples therapy can help.
Couples Therapy Can Help You Feel Close Again
Whether you’re feeling disconnected, struggling with conflict, or questioning your future together, therapy gives you the tools to rebuild trust, intimacy, and understanding.
✅ Learn how to communicate without defensiveness or blame
✅ Repair emotional wounds and build mutual trust and respect
✅ Reignite intimacy and connection in your relationship
✅ Navigate major life changes, parenting, or betrayal together
✅ Understand each other’s needs, boundaries, and love languages
Relationships don’t have to feel like a constant struggle. With the right support, you and your partner can move forward—together.
How Couples Counseling and Marriage Counseling in St. Petersburg, FL Can Transform Your Relationship
You’ll Know How To Ask For What You Need
It seems so simple. Yet, the majority of individuals who come into couples therapy don’t really know what their needs are. Much less how to ask for them in healthy ways. Maybe you pride yourself of “not needing much”. Or, perhaps you have been told you are “too needy.” Either way, Amy will work with you on helping you understand what your unique needs are. And, how to ask for them to be met in a healthy way that promotes deeper intimacy.
You’ll Feel Fully Alive In Your Relationship
Being in a relationship doesn’t mean you should loose any part of who you are as an individual. We like to think of a partnership in terms of inter-dependency and two whole people coming together to be a team. Couples therapy in Florida can help you find the way back to yourself and how to honor that in your partner. It’s a gift to be able to reflect the goodness in one another. So, that is exactly what we’re going to do.
You’ll Understand Your Own Patterns of Relating
Whether we like it or not, our childhood environments set us on a particular trajectory that most of us are still playing out. We don’t have relationship problems. Instead, we have childhood issues that have not been fully resolved. Amy will work with you and your partner in understanding how you relate, your unique attachment styles and how you can work — together — to find a deeper, more satisfying connection.
Therapists Who Work With Couples
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Zac Giparas | LMHC
ADHD, Therapy for Men, Relationship Issues, Couples Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and Gottman
Get Started With Couples Therapy in St. Petersburg
Pick Your Provider
Browse our team of experienced couples therapists, Emily Barbosa and Zac Giparas, and find the one who feels like the right fit for you both. Whether you're struggling with communication, trust, intimacy, or conflict, we’re here to help you rebuild connection and strengthen your relationship.
Schedule Your Free Consult
Take the first step by scheduling a no-pressure, 15-minute consultation below. It’s the perfect chance to share your concerns, ask questions, and see if couples therapy is the right next step for your relationship.
Begin Your Healing Journey
This is where real change happens. Together, we’ll untangle the patterns keeping you stuck and give you the tools to build a stronger, healthier, and more fulfilling relationship.
“We are born in relationship, we are wounded in relationship, and we can be healed in relationship. Marriage is not a static state between two unchanging people.”
-Herville Hendrix
What Does Couples Therapy and Marriage Counseling Look Like?
At Sunshine City Counseling, we don’t do “one-size-fits-all” therapy. We tailor sessions to your unique relationship dynamics and focus on what actually works.
🔹 Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) – Helps you and your partner break out of harmful patterns and rebuild trust.
🔹 Attachment-Based Therapy – Explores how your past experiences shape the way you show up in your relationship today.
🔹 Conflict Resolution & Communication Tools – Because healthy relationships aren’t about avoiding conflict—they’re about learning how to navigate it together.
🔹 Intimacy & Connection Work – Whether it’s emotional or physical closeness, we help you reignite what’s missing.
🔹 Premarital Counseling with Prepare/Enrich – Led by Zac Giparas, this research-backed program helps engaged and newlywed couples build a strong foundation for marriage by strengthening communication, understanding differences, and preparing for long-term success.
Frequently Asked Questions About Couples Therapy
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Great question! We are a private pay practice and considered “out of network.” We’re happy to give you a superbill so you can get reimbursed, which all depends on your "out of network benefits." All of our therapists are specializes in their own unique areas and range from $75-165 a session.
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Studies have shown that 90% of the change that you’ll experience is due to the relationship you build with your counselor. SO, we do a free first session with everyone to make sure you dig us and we dig you and, most importantly, that we will be helpful.
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We always begin with a free consult to ensure its a good fit. After that, sessions range from $120-140 depending if you work with Emily Barbosa or Zac Giparas.
It'll be the best money you spend to get your relationship back on track.
What Can I Expect From Couples Counseling and Marriage Counseling in St. Petersburg, Fl?
Focused On The Relationship
Marriage counseling or couples therapy is a process where two people in an intimate relationship work together to create mutual understanding and fulfillment. It's about working with your partner, not against them, to get what you want from this relationship.
Learning Insightful Tools
Learning how to properly communicate with others and be more empathetic is a crucial part of any relationship. Couples Counseling explores the idea that it's not just important, but necessary for couples to learn new ways of communicating in order to ensure their relationships stay strong over time; this includes listening closely and meeting one another emotionally as well as making sure they're always trying out new things together.
Identifying Your Role
Couples Counseling helps you identify the role you play in keeping your conflict alive and, possibly, sabotaging the relationship. Most people have no problem identifying what their partner is doing wrong that needs to change but it’s much harder - and humbling - to identify what they bring into a relationship that maintains or encourages more conflict.
Visit Our Counseling Center in Florida
Physical Address: 1615 Pasadena Ave Suite #330 South Pasadena, FL 33707
Hours
Monday–Friday 9am–8pm
Phone
(727)-940-9538
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