Are you seeking a Relationship Counsellor to help you navigate a challenging time in your marriage or partnership? The North Shore Relationship Counsellors Guide showcases experienced therapists who can support you and your partner in overcoming difficulties and building a stronger, more fulfilling relationship.
Finding the right Relationship Counsellor can make all the difference in helping couples navigate challenges and strengthen their bond. This guide explores key qualities, essential credentials, and practical tips to help you choose the best professional for your relationship needs.
To make it easy, our Relationship Counsellor Guide showcases many local relationship counsellors, psychologists and therapists to help couples through turbulent times in their relationship.
Relationship Counsellors on Sydney’s North Shore
- Elizabeth Neal Psychology – Relationship and Couples Therapy, Pymble
- Let Love Happen (Max and Tatiana Schneider), Kirribilli, Balgowlah & The Hills
- Metropolitan Psychological Centre, St Ives
- Relationships Australia, Dee Why
- The Barefoot Therapist (Sharlene Townes), St Ives
- The Good Relationship Practice, McMahons Point
- Thought Tree Counselling (Allison Garing), Hornsby
What is a Relationship Counsellor?
A Relationship Counsellor is a trained professional who helps individuals, couples, or families address issues related to their relationships. The counsellor works with clients to identify and understand the root causes of their relationship problems and then helps them develop strategies to resolve those issues.
Relationship Counsellors typically have a background in psychology or a related field and may be licensed therapists or social workers. They may work in private practice or as part of a larger organisation, such as a counselling centre clinic.
Relationship counsellors commonly address communication problems, conflict resolution, infidelity, trust issues, sexual difficulties, and parenting disagreements. They aim to help clients build healthier, more satisfying relationships with their partners or family members.
When should I see a Relationship Counsellor?
It may be helpful to see a relationship counsellor in many situations. Here are some common reasons why people seek out relationship counselling:
- Communication issues: If you find it challenging to communicate effectively with your partner or have trouble expressing your needs and feelings productively, a relationship counsellor can help you learn new communication skills and improve your ability to connect with your partner.
- Trust issues: If trust has been broken in your relationship, such as infidelity or dishonesty, a relationship counsellor can help you work through the underlying problems and rebuild trust.
- Conflict resolution: If you and your partner constantly argue or are unable to resolve conflicts, a relationship counsellor can help you identify the underlying issues and develop strategies for resolving disputes more productively.
- Intimacy issues: If you and your partner have trouble connecting emotionally or physically, a relationship counsellor can help you explore the underlying problems and develop strategies for improving intimacy.
- Life transitions: If you are going through a significant life transition, such as getting married, having a child, or dealing with a loss, a relationship counsellor can help you navigate these changes and support your relationship through these transitions.
Do you need a referral to see a Relationship Counsellor?
No. A doctor’s referral is not required to book an appointment with a Relationship Counsellor.
Are any rebates available for Relationship Counselling Sessions?
Couples therapy is not claimable under Medicare.
Some private health insurers may offer a rebate for sessions. Check with your provider for your circumstances.
Need financial support?
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Relationship Counsellors on Sydney’s Lower North Shore
Let Love Happen
Max and Tatiana Schneider are a husband and wife co-therapist team that provides premium counselling and coaching solutions. Their support programs offer a re-imagined and innovative approach to relationship help: counselling sessions are essential, but these work best when led by a male and female team for a balanced perspective and when they are complemented by outside-the-sessions customised work that is engaging, creative and informed by results. Mentoring and accountability are vital ingredients in their support process.
Working exclusively with couples willing to commit to a comprehensive process of transformation, they guarantee that by the end of their helping process, you will love each other more than you do now.
Qualifications & Experience
Max and Tatiana have over 20 years of combined experience in counselling and family therapy, mental health education, and resource development. They are trained in the Gottman Method, Couples and Addictions Recovery, Emotional Focused Couple Therapy, and Neurodiverse Couples Therapy.
- Graduate Certificate in Psychotherapy and Counselling
- Graduate Certificate in Mental Health
- Advanced Diploma in Counselling and Family Therapy
- BA Communication
- Cert MHFA
Session costs
Let Love Happen doesn’t work with single sessions. Instead, it offers premium packages with lifetime access to tools, resources, and materials. Their program packages range from $1500 to $4700 per package.
Offer: Book a complimentary 45-minute relationship assessment session. Both partners need to attend together. Book here.
Essential Details: Let Love Happen
- Address: Kirribilli | Balgowlah (crèche available) | The Hills
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 1300 872 303
- Website: letlovehappen.org
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
The Good Relationship Practice
Their team of Relationship Therapists
The Good Relationship Practice is a team of specially trained therapists who can help you navigate difficult patches in your relationships. Cherie Marriott, Shweta Israni, Margie Mitchell, Filomena Leone, and David Rosa offer targeted couples, family, and individual counselling with a coaching edge. They focus on your specific needs, and you will notice results in only a few sessions.
In couples counselling, you will be supported to resolve niggling roadblocks or more significant crises in your relationship, from improving communication and negotiating household responsibilities to reducing conflict, re-building intimacy and recovering from an affair.
Family counselling offers a non-judgemental space to work through troubles at home, from parents struggling with discipline problems and differences over rule setting to families living with ADHD/ASD. We also help separated or blended families who want harmony after divorce. Adult family therapy supports family members in repairing estrangements & cut-offs, processing past hurts and establishing boundaries.
Individual counselling provides clients with an empathic environment to work through life transitions, grief & loss, interpersonal struggles and, considering and managing separation. We can also support you with childhood trauma, substance recovery & eating disorders, and anxiety & depression.
The therapists at The Good Relationship Practice take a warm, compassionate, unbiased, and practical approach. You can expect to leave each session with a clear idea of improving relationship dynamics and the confidence to move forward.
Qualifications & Experience
The therapists at The Good Relationship Practice are experts in couple and family therapy and undertake ongoing professional development to ensure their clinical edge. They hold Master’ s-Level degrees in Counselling and Psychotherapy and use a combination of top-rated Gottman Method Therapy, Family Systems Theory, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, and Solution-Focused approaches to achieve positive and lasting results.
Session costs
- One-hour sessions $250
- Appointments are held in rooms at McMahons Point near North Sydney or online via Zoom. They are available Monday through Saturday—including after hours—and sessions are usually held fortnightly, on a regular basis, so once you have an allocated time slot, it will be held exclusively for you.
Rebates: Medibank, AHM, Bupa, HCF, ARHG (including Teacher’s Health, St Luke’s, Phoenix Health, GMHBA, Westfund, Police Health, Emergency Services Health), Doctors Health Fund.
Offer: Click here to book a free 15-minute consultation with one of their therapists: https://www.goodrelationship.com.au/call-consult
Essential Details: The Good Relationship Practice
- Address: Level 1, 131 Blues Point Road, McMahons Point
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 0421 33 99 11
- Website: goodrelationship.com.au
- Social Media: Facebook
Relationship Counsellors on Sydney’s Upper North Shore
Metropolitan Psychological Centre
Metropolitan Psychological Centre
Vinicio Herrera, Principal Psychologist, has been in private practice for over 26 years and has extensive experience in couples therapy.
Couples Therapy aims to support couples in working through the range of issues arising in relationships, including trust issues, infidelity, difficulty with communication and conflict, life transitions, parenting and infertility and also in making big choices about relationships and working through separations where necessary.
He can support couples in coming to understand and connect in meaningful ways and create strong, resilient family units. He is also focused on assisting couples in identifying common or repeating issues. Rather than keep having the same arguments, he provides tools to create meaningful dialogue around these areas to help couples better understand each other.
The aim is to educate and empower couples, providing them with new skills practised in counselling that they can then take home and utilise on an ongoing basis. Couples will then have a better way of relating to one another, bringing meaning and connectedness to their relationship.
Qualifications & Experience
- BA MA MAPS FCOUN
- Supervisor College of Counselling
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Trauma-focused Therapy
- Intimacy Counselling
- Schema therapy
Session costs
- The cost of a 60-minute session with Vinicio Herrera, Principal Psychologist, is $490
- When couples are seen individually, the cost is $290 per 60-minute session
Essential Details: Metropolitan Psychological Centre
- Address: 27 Stanley Street, St Ives
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (02) 9440 9944
- Website: metropsychcentre.com.au
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
Elizabeth Neal Psychology – Relationship and Couples Therapy
Elizabeth Neal Psychology & The Relationship Therapy Centre
Conflict is an inevitable part of any relationship, but what truly defines a couple’s success isn’t the fact that they argue—it’s how they repair. Marathon Couples Therapy is an intensive and extremely effective approach to resolving specific crises or issues. It is a structured program that results in a reduction of distress, resolution of specific problems, and a stronger relationship.
The couples therapy is completed over two full days (usually over a weekend) with some pre-therapy and post-therapy consultations. A comprehensive relationship assessment, interpretation of the findings, analysis of the relationship, and a huge package of resources and interventions are included.
The intensive process allows couples to successfully work through areas of gridlocked conflict that keep them stuck. Couples learn how to convert hurtful and destructive communication patterns into more considered dialogue with evidence-based communication strategies. This results in meaningful understanding and uncovering realistic roadmaps for moving forward.
Couples with “stuck points” can benefit from marathon therapy as it is an excellent way of addressing these core issues. By working on specific issues, the full intensive format gives couples a clear idea of how they plan to move forward.
Qualifications & Experience
Elizabeth Neal was the eighth Australian to achieve certification as a Gottman Therapist and the third to receive approval from The Gottman Institute to train other therapists in the Gottman Method. Her extensive credentials include roles as an Advanced Clinical Trainer and Consultant for The Gottman Institute, reflecting her deep commitment to the science of relationships. Elizabeth’s passion for relationship psychology was ignited through personal experiences, particularly during her journey into parenthood, motivating her to equip herself and others with practical communication tools for navigating the complexities of modern relationships. Elizabeth is the author of Parenting as a Team. The media regularly call upon her as an expert relationship therapist.
Session costs
The Marathon Couples Therapy Package includes:
- Initial 50-minute Zoom/F2F consultation
- A comprehensive Gottman Relationship Assessment and Analysis
- Two individual consultations with each partner so Liz can get to understand where you are each coming from and your individual perspectives
- Two full days of therapy
- A huge pack of resources from the Gottman Institute
- Two follow-up sessions 4 and 6 weeks later
- Total package cost: $5900
Rebates Couples therapy is currently not covered by Medicare. Some private health insurers will rebate partial fees.
Offer: North Shore Mums who book in for Marathon Therapy will receive two bonus couples therapy workbooks packed with interventions and exercises to maintain a strong relationship. The usual price is $45.00 per workbook.
Essential Details: Elizabeth Neal
- Address: Grandview Street, Pymble
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: elizabethneal.com.au
- Social Media: Facebook
The Barefoot Therapist
Sharlene Townes, The Barefoot Therapist
Couples Therapy
Profound relationship change occurs in couples therapy when both individuals feel understood, supported and challenged to grow.
Sharlene facilitates powerful conversations to help you uncover your triggers for conflict and communication that keep you stuck, disconnected or in crisis. Learn to ask for what you need, set healthy boundaries and support your partner’s ability to do the same.
In a great relationship, both individuals can be honest, feel seen and heard, and are empowered in their lives together.
Sharlene will guide you to:
- Create emotional safety to foster honesty
- Befriend your nervous system and communicate calmly and even when triggered
- Negotiate healthy time-outs and share responsibility for repair to ensure conflict enhances and deepens your connection
- Repair after infidelity or a deep relationship trauma
- Openly ask for what you need without expectation or blame
- Find your way out of a relationship ‘flat-line’ or an overwhelming crisis and rebuild a shared vision for a relationship that supports the well-being of the two of you.
There is often a well-worn communication dance in relationships that, over time, can erode its health, vitality and ability to remain open and curious with your partner. Unlock your unique dance and create the relationship you both truly want.
Individual Therapy
Sharlene also works with individuals to help them make sense of the past and their current relationships, including—and most importantly—their relationship with themselves. She helps them understand their nervous systems and the legacy of childhood and traumas to reclaim their curiosity and resilience. Sharlene also facilitates deep inner child healing.
Qualifications & Experience
- Qualified & Registered Licensed Counsellor
- Bachelor’s Degree in Counselling
- Couples training with Esther Perel
- Couples training with Terry Real
- Somatic Psychotherapist
- Trauma & addiction with Gabor Mate
- ADHD & ASD neurodiversity specialisation in adult relationships
- Specialist in Empaths & HSPs and sensitivity differences in relationships
- Attachment and romantic love
- Internal family systems
- Polyvagal theory.
Session costs
- 1 hour session: $200
- 2 hour extended session: $400
- Individual Session: $165
Offer: Free 15-minute consult – book online.
Essential Details: The Barefoot Therapist
- Address: Suite 5b, 15-17 Stanley Street, St Ives, NSW 2075
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 0482 502 394
- Website: thebarefoottherapist.com.au
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
Thought Tree Counselling
Allison Garing from Thought Tree Counselling
Allison Garing provides thoughtful relationship therapy in a nonjudgmental, compassionate, and respectful space. She is a clinically registered Counsellor/Psychotherapist based in Sydney, with a background working with couples, families, adults, and young people.
Allison’s clients benefit from a collaborative, person-centred approach. She aims to empower you with evidence-based tools to improve communication, reduce conflict, and improve emotional well-being within couples and families. She is passionate about Family Systems Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Attachment Theory, and the Gottman Method.
Allison also has experience working with adults and young people in the areas of anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, emotion regulation and workplace stress. She is particularly interested in parenting, family functioning, and life transition issues, including grief and loss, career change, separation and divorce, and creating a new, meaningful life after change.
Allison offers counselling in her specialist rooms in Hornsby and Thornleigh or via Telehealth via Zoom or Phone. Confidentiality is assured.
Qualifications & Experience
- Member of the Australian Association of Family Therapy
- Clinically Registered with PACFA
- Master of Counselling
- Gottman Level 1 and 2
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Couples and Addiction Recovery
- Acceptance Commitment Therapy
- Family Systems
- Attachment Theory
Session costs
- Couples 1 hour: $220
- Couples 90 Minute intake session: $330
- Individual Session: $165
Rebates: Bupa, AHM, Medibank, ARHG (including Teacher’s Health, St Luke’s, Phoenix Health, GMHBA, Westfund, Police Health, Emergency Services Health), HCF, and Doctors Health offer rebates.
Offer: It is common to feel nervous about speaking to a therapist, and the relationship between the counsellor and client is significant. If you would like to chat before making an appointment, Allison is happy to discuss your needs, the counselling process, and what she offers.
Essential Details: Thought Tree Counselling
- Address: Hornsby & Thornleigh
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (02) 8403 2534
- Website: thoughttree.com.au
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
Relationship Counsellors on Sydney’s Northern Beaches
Relationships Australia
Relationships Australia
Relationships can be challenging, and sometimes, we all need support to navigate through tough times. Relationships Australia NSW provides a welcoming space where you can openly discuss your concerns, address tensions, and strengthen your relationships.
They support all types of relationships, including newly established, same-sex, non-monogamous, separated and divorced couples. Their friendly counsellors don’t just listen – they offer practical tools to help you understand each other better, identify sources of stress and improve communication.
Counselling is available face-to-face at their centres in Macquarie Park, Dee Why, and across NSW, or online. Sessions typically last between 55 and 85 minutes, and their counsellor will work with you to determine how many sessions you need.
They also offer a range of other services, such as mediation, relationship education, and workshops, that can complement and support your counselling journey.
Qualifications & Experience
Relationships NSW has been supporting NSW for more than 70 years. All their counsellors are highly skilled and qualified.
Session costs
Fees are charged on a sliding scale to ensure everyone can access support.
Essential Details: Relationships Australia
- Address: 102/68 Waterloo Rd, Macquarie Park | Level 1/651 Pittwater Road, Dee Why
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: relationshipsnsw.org.au
- Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
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- North Shore Family Lawyers & Mediation Services Guide
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- Separation under one roof: Living together after a split
