Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (New York State License: 001435)
Ketamine and Psychedelic Assisted Therapist certified by The Integrative Psychiatry Institute
Andre Moore is also a contributing psychotherapist at Journey Clinical https://www.journeyclinical.com/, a major national provider of sublingual Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy.
I use creative metaphors from film, music, and literature to embolden couples to bring Five Compassions, described by Gabor Mate in The Myth of Normal, to their everyday lives:
Here’s how I applied the Five Compassions in a face-to-face session with a couple who felt confused and trapped by their everyday patterns, uncovering the subtle, yet deeply impactful, ways they were unintentionally hurting each other.
My job was to sense and then show them the raw spots they were triggering in each other.
I first focused on their non-verbal tells and how their feelings got played out in their bodies. There’ve been countless times when I meet with a couple that the sadness in their eyes, the pain and stress in their faces tell me a deeper, more agonizing story than the words coming out of their mouths.
I was curious and gentle. I encouraged them to slow down and feel what’s going on in their bodies. I reminded them that words are the least important way we have of expressing our deepest, most painful feelings. I also encouraged – even challenged them – to imagine what the other must be feeling and going through, without necessarily agreeing with it.
I took every opportunity to apply Gabor Mate’s Five Compassions in relating and responding to them with my openness and curiosity, my respectful tone of voice, and the softness in my eyes.
I tried to model with my own behavior how they might be more tender and compassionate with each other.
Building Therapeutic Alliances with Individuals and Couples in Psychotherapy
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (New York State License: 001435)
Ketamine and Psychedelic Assisted Therapist certified by The Integrative Psychiatry Institute
Practitioner of Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Use Nonverbal Sensorimotor Techniques to deepen Emotionally Focused Therapy
At Marriage & Couples Counseling in New York City, we also use Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to guide couples through seven key conversations, as outlined by Dr. Sue Johnson in Hold Me Tight . These conversations are essential for building emotional intimacy and fostering a strong, lasting connection in long-term relationships.
I will help you recognize how quickly arguments can escalate when partners criticize each other’s character, deny responsibility, insult, or emotionally withdraw. These destructive patterns, described by social psychologist J. M. Gottman as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, significantly increase the likelihood of divorce, up to 85%. Learning to identify these dynamics is the first step toward healthier communication.
In this stage of couples therapy NYC, we revisit past conflicts to understand how each of you contributed to misattunements and emotional disconnections. This is an opportunity to apply the skills learned in the first two conversations and start transforming past struggles into productive insights.
Here, I facilitate a healing dialogue designed to encourage mutual forgiveness. You will be guided to speak openly about your pain, acknowledge your partner’s experiences, take responsibility for the ways you hurt each other, and identify what your partner truly needs. Together, we create a new, shared narrative that strengthens your bond.
In this final conversation, I emphasize that love is a language that must be spoken repeatedly. We focus on ARE conversations, based on Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement, as described by Sue Johnson. The more you practice this emotional language, the more naturally it flows, and the stronger your love becomes.
I guide you in exploring your hypersensitivities, those emotional triggers rooted in past experiences that arise when your partner neglects, ignores, or dismisses you. Understanding these deeper hurts helps reduce the intensity of Demon Dialogues and allows for more emotional closeness.
In this conversation, I facilitate a sense of emotional safety that allows you both to step away from old protective patterns. You will learn to build a secure bridge between each other, creating a safe haven where both partners feel seen, heard, and valued.
Finally, we focus on transforming your physical connection. You will learn how to move from emotionally disconnected or partially connected intimacy to rich, synchronous moments where emotional openness, responsiveness, tender touch, and erotic exploration come together, deepening both love and closeness.
The role of a therapist in any form of psychotherapy is to reflect to you, much like a “good enough” parent, who you truly are as you explore the hidden, often unfathomable parts of yourself and your partner. By committing to be fully present with you, the therapist helps you uncover, in the words of Leonard Cohen, “The Beauty Lost to You Yourself.”
At our practice, our marriage, couples, and relationship counselors provide a safe and supportive space for partners to reconnect and grow together. We help you open your hearts to one another in ways that foster deeper understanding and lasting intimacy.
Our therapists use proven relationship-building tools such as The Couples Dialogue, Creative Role-Playing, The Five Love Languages, Turning Conflict into Connection, and even creative approaches like Poems to Love Smarter. These techniques are designed to help couples cope more effectively with the everyday challenges of stress, frustration, anxiety, and depression.
Drawing on decades of experience, we know that genuine healing and growth occur when couples feel free to share their true selves—their joys, fears, hurts, and hopes—within a secure emotional environment. This process creates the foundation for greater happiness, emotional contentment, and sexual fulfillment.
We also invite you to reflect on Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person, a thought-provoking and humorous video that challenges the myth of “perfect love.” In reality, there is no single flawless partner. Instead, there are individuals who—despite their imperfections—can truly understand you and with whom you can build a rich, meaningful, and satisfying life.
Our team includes creative, compassionate couples counselors, licensed therapists, and a consulting psychiatrist (see our About Us page). With more than 80 years of combined experience in marriage and couples counseling, premarital guidance, and relationship support, we have helped countless partners strengthen their emotional connection and rediscover joy in their relationships.
Our services are tailored for couples who are committed to cultivating deeper intimacy and are motivated to achieve lasting change. We also work with many insurance providers, including Oxford Insurance, Harvard Pilgrim, Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, U.S. Health Care, Guardian, and Mental Health Net. In most cases, clients receive 50% or more reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, depending on the plan. Please note we are not able to accept GHI, HMOs, Medicaid, or Medicare.
At Marriage Couples Counseling in New York City, we help couples strengthen emotional intimacy, navigate life transitions, and build lasting connections. Through in-person couples therapy sessions, our experienced therapists guide you with proven techniques like Emotionally Focused Therapy, The Couples Dialogue, The Five Love Languages, and more.
Our goal is to help you uncover hidden patterns, improve communication, and foster a deeper connection and understanding of each other, so you can experience a more fulfilling, joyful, and resilient partnership.
Don’t wait for challenges to escalate. Schedule a session with us now and start building a stronger, healthier, and more connected relationship.
Marriage counseling can significantly improve communication, rebuild trust, and help partners understand each other more deeply. While success depends on the willingness of both partners to engage in the process, many couples find counseling to be a turning point toward a stronger and healthier relationship.
It is best to choose a counselor with specific training and experience in couples counseling. Relationship dynamics differ greatly from individual therapy, and a trained counselor can offer tailored strategies that address both partners’ needs effectively.
Individual therapy focuses on personal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, while couples counseling or relationship therapy addresses the patterns and interactions between two people. The goal is to improve the relationship as a whole rather than focusing on just one partner.
Every couple’s situation is unique. Some couples notice positive changes within a few sessions, while others may take longer, depending on the complexity of the issues. Consistency and openness during the process often speed up progress.
We make it a priority to schedule couples as soon as possible. In many cases, you can begin your relationship counseling sessions within a week, depending on availability.
Yes. Individual therapy addresses personal challenges, but it may not resolve the relational patterns that cause conflict. Couples counseling focuses directly on your interactions, communication, and shared goals, which can lead to more effective change.
Weekly sessions provide the most momentum, especially at the start. However, some couples prefer bi-weekly appointments. Your counselor will help you decide on a frequency that best suits your situation and progress.
Yes, many couples do recover after an affair with the right support. Counseling provides a safe space to address the breach of trust, process difficult emotions, and work toward rebuilding the relationship if both partners are committed.
Counseling can help with communication challenges, trust issues, intimacy concerns, conflict resolution, parenting differences, financial stress, and more. The focus is tailored to your unique relationship needs.
It’s common for one partner to be hesitant. Often, attending even a few sessions helps them feel more comfortable. In some cases, starting with individual sessions can encourage a reluctant partner to join later.
No, marriage counseling is not only for couples in crisis. Many partners choose counseling to strengthen their bond, improve communication, or prepare for major life transitions such as marriage (pre-marriage counseling), parenthood, or retirement. It can be just as helpful for maintaining a healthy relationship as it is for resolving conflicts.
Marriage and Couples Counseling in New York City is in Greenwich Village
(South of Washington Square Park between Sullivan and Thompson Streets, two blocks from the campus of NYU)
160 Bleecker Street, 9C East
New York, NY 10012
©2025 Marriage Couples Counseling & Life Coaching.