Get Started with the Couple & Marriage Therapy Team

If you are a couple looking for more specialized support, please reach out to us. When contacting our care coordination team, please inform them of your specialized care request.
You may also contact the Client Care Team at 847-733-4300.

Options for Therapy

In-person Therapy

Face to face support in a welcoming and private setting at any one of our four locations.

Teletherapy*

Access expert care from the comfort of your home through secure online sessions. Consider teletherapy if you do not live close to one of our four locations.

Book Online Today! Learn More About How to Get Started

*In order to book a teletherapy appointment, you need to reside in Illinois or be present in the state of Illinois for your sessions.

Common Areas Where We Provide Expertise

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Communication Issues

Infidelity or Betrayal

Emotional Distance

Conflict Resolution

Significant Life Transitions

What You’ll Get from Therapy with The Family Institute

Improved Communication Skills

  • Therapists provide tools and techniques to help you communicate more effectively, ensuring both partners feel heard and understood.  

Enhanced Emotional Connection

  • Couples therapy can rebuild emotional intimacy by addressing feelings of disconnection or loneliness, and help partners better understand and meet each other’s emotional needs. 

Conflict Resolution Strategies

  • Learn practical strategies to navigate disagreements constructively. Therapy can reduce the intensity and frequency of conflicts, helping couples approach problems collaboratively rather than combatively.  

Rebuild Trust

  • For couples dealing with infidelity or betrayal, therapy offers a safe space to rebuild trust and address underlying issues. Trust restoration through therapy can lead to deeper relationship satisfaction in the long term. 

How to Know When You Should See a Therapist

For most couples, it’s not easy to make the decision to try counseling. It’s not easy to acknowledge that things aren’t as perfect as we’d like them to be in a relationship that started out with high hopes and great expectations. It takes courage to acknowledge that everything we have tried at home hasn’t been enough to achieve the results we’re looking for. Research has found that the longer couples wait before seeking counseling, the harder it becomes to turn around unhelpful habits and resolve hurt and resentment. When relationship problems persist for three months or longer, even a brief consultation with a couple counselor can be helpful in setting the partnership on a better course. 

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Other Therapy Services for Adults

Individual Therapy

Partner with a dedicated therapist to navigate personal challenges and achieve meaningful growth. 

Family Therapy

We provide families across the lifespan tools to navigate their intertwined relationships and the challenges they face. 

Educational, support and psychoeducational groups to provide individuals who share a common experience the opportunity to address issues and concerns in a safe and comfortable setting. 

Our Experts in Couple & Marriage Therapy

Lesley Fisher

Lesley Fisher, M.S., LMFT

Director, Couple Services
Community Program Supervisor

Lesley Fisher (she/her) is passionate about working with families and couples facing medical challenges and/or developmental disabilities. Therapy with her begins with a warm and empathic connection, and from this base she tailors treatment to the needs of each client or family, blending mindfulness, behavioral, cognitive and psychodynamic therapies as necessary.

Douglas Breunlin

Douglas C. Breunlin, MSSA, LMFT, LCSW

Senior Staff Therapist
Coordinator of IST Development

For over four decades, Mr. Breunlin has practiced individual, couple and family therapy. He has served as a consultant for Cook County Hospital's Departments of Pediatrics and Family Practice for 12 years, in addition to providing consultation to mental health centers, special education programs and residential facilities. Mr.

Therapist Alyssa Campbell

Alyssa Campbell, Ph.D., LMFT

Staff Therapist

Alyssa Campbell, Ph.D., strives for a compassionate and self-accepting approach to therapy that empowers clients to reach their goals. She works with clients to co-create a safe space to reflect on their values and experiences in order to create the change that they've identified as meaningful in their life. Dr.

therapist aaron cohn

Aaron Cohn, Ph.D., LMFT

Clinical Lecturer
Therapist
Dr. Aaron Cohn’s clinical work focuses on neurodiverse couples, especially couples in which at least one partner has ADHD or ADD. Other areas of focus include: LGBTQIA+ couples and individuals, people in creative, academic, or highly technical professions, people in relationships involving consensual non-monogamy, and parents seeking to repair or maintain their connection to their adolescent or young adult offspring.
Daniel Katz

Daniel Katz, M.A., Psy.D.

Staff Therapist

There is a solid base of empirical evidence supporting that psychodynamic psychotherapy, mindfulness-based cognitive interventions, and acceptance and commitment therapy effectively treat an array of conditions. Though Dr.

Nikki Lively

Nikki Lively, M.A., LCSW

Clinical Director, Transitions to Parenthood Program
Therapist
Ms. Lively is a certified Emotionally Focused couples Therapist ​and Supervisor (EFT), ​Certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International and ​trained in Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Her main area of expertise is supporting women, men, infants, couples and families in the transition to parenthood ​and specializes in women's reproductive health.
Elizabeth Mika

Elizabeth Mika, M.A., LCPC

Therapist

Elizabeth Mika has spent over 30 years working with diverse populations of all ages and cultural backgrounds in private practice, as well as in community mental health, inpatient and college settings. Her life-long interests center on the role of emotions in general and emotional challenges in particular in human development.

Chicago Therapist Brenna Moore

Brenna Moore, Psy.D.

Clinical Psychologist / Staff Therapist

Dr. Brenna Moore is a clinical psychologist and staff therapist at The Family Institute. She also works as the research coordinator of the Couple Prevention Pilot Project, a research study assessing the quality of romantic relationships. The study also provides workshops to participants teaching couples preventive skills to better handle future conflict. Dr.

Jen Rafacz

Jen Rafacz, Ph.D., CST

Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Supervisor
Dr. Rafacz works with an array of individual and couple concerns. Their specialty area is sex therapy, but other common areas of treatment, for couples specifically, include addressing: desire concerns, sexual discrepancies, conflict, infidelity, nonmonogamy/polyamory and communication problems around sex.
Cheryl Rampage

Cheryl Rampage, Ph.D.

Senior Academic and Clinical Advisor
Clinical Associate Professor

Dr. Rampage is an engaged, active therapist with more than three decades of experience treating individuals, couples and families.