Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC: Transform Your Marriage with In-Person Expert Guidance

Feeling disconnected in your marriage? Marriage counseling in Wake Forest, NC, offers expert guidance to rebuild trust, reconnect, heal, and grow.

Transform Your Marriage with In-Person Expert Guidance

You are tired of a stale, sexless marriage. You often feel exhausted, disconnected, and alone. You still love each other, but you feel like your marriage is not where it should be after eight, ten, or even twenty years. You miss that deep connection you once had, beyond the daily tasks and responsibilities you handle.

You have not been on the same page — both physically and emotionally — for way too long.

Does this sound familiar?

Are you ready to change all this and get your relationship back on track? Are you ready for healing? Marriage counseling Wake Forest NC can help.

Why Marriage Counseling Matters More Than You May Think

Even though life looks the same on the surface, you know something in your marriage is off —even if you can't quite put it into words. There's a constant tension in the air. You find yourselves snapping at each other over the smallest things. You're never in the mood for intimacy at the same time. You can't remember the last time you laughed together or did something just for fun. One of you always feels like you're carrying more of the load, while the other feels unseen and underappreciated.

When you come to the point where you're so annoyed with your partner, looking at them and wondering, "Who is this person I married?", you need more than just a talk to help you reconnect. This is where working with a skilled couples therapist can really help. Imagine what it would feel like to come home from work and, instead of tension, to be greeted with a hug, a quiet chat, and a simple "I missed you today." These small shifts in everyday dynamics are something we work toward in marriage counseling sessions in Wake Forest. Because these small everyday moments have the power to rebuild connection.

·       You can find your path towards healing.

·       You can find your path towards forgiveness.

·       You can feel empowered to have a voice and know how to communicate it effectively with your loved ones.

You might also find helpful: From Frustration to Connection: How Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC Can Transform Communication

Stories from the Wake Forest Counseling Room

A lot of couples say that marriage counseling unlocked real joy and deep connection in their relationship.

"Working with Irina has been an incredibly meaningful experience for both my husband and me. From the very first session, her presence was undeniable — calm, steady, and completely attuned to both of us. She holds a space that feels both grounded and warmly human, striking the perfect balance between professionalism and heartfelt connection. Because of her guidance, we not only understand our patterns, but we also now have the tools to move through them — with curiosity instead of judgment, and connection instead of disconnection. Our relationship feels stronger, safer, and more open because of the work we did with her. We are deeply grateful and would recommend Irina without hesitation to any couple looking to heal, reconnect, and grow together."

— Past Client (July 2025)

Another couple recently shared how marriage counseling Wake Forest gave them a new language for their struggles. Before therapy, their disagreements about parenting spiraled into shouting, slamming doors, and days of silence afterwards. In our sessions, they learned to pause, identify the emotion beneath the anger, and say things like, "I feel worried we're not on the same team," instead of "You never support me." That shift alone stopped many of their fights before they even began.

You might also find helpful: Pressure-Free Intimacy: A Pathway to Fulfilling Relationships in Marriage Counseling Raleigh NC

Why See a Therapist Who Specializes in Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC?

If you're struggling with past hurts, childhood trauma, mental health challenges, or difficulties in your relationship, it's always better to reach out to a therapist than to go through it alone. However, not every licensed therapist is equipped with the unique set of skills and knowledge to help a couple struggling in their marriage. In fact, most therapists do not have additional years of training to know how to effectively teach a couple to heal from their past hurts and feel connected.

Think about it. If you need a hip replacement, would you go to a generalist who knows a little bit of everything, or would you seek a specialist who has been trained and has experience in hip replacements? I bet you would pick the specialist…because you'd want to make sure your legs are of equal length (ouch!) and your joints are not dislocated after the surgery. I know, I would!

Translating this analogy back to the mental health world, there are several issues that require additional training for therapists to understand and assist their clients effectively. For instance, eating disorders are serious mental health conditions — anorexia nervosa, in particular, has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness. Addressing such conditions requires a team of professionals, including a therapist, a dietician, a medical doctor, and others, all of whom must possess the appropriate knowledge and skills to collaborate effectively and ensure the client's well-being.

Since I do not have specialization in treating eating disorders, I always refer my clients to an eating disorder specialist. Similarly, many clinicians without the specialized training that I possess (and it's training that took many years to acquire) refer couples to me for help.

I once had a couple who had already tried counseling with two different therapists, only to realize after some time that it just wasn't working for them. When I asked what the major problem was, they explained that it felt as though their marriage was being treated like two separate individuals sitting in the same room. Discouraged, they wanted to give up on counseling altogether. But then they decided to give it one more shot…only this time with a specialized marriage counselor.

When they finally started marriage counseling Wake Forest, they were amazed by how different the approach was: the focus shifted from who was right or wrong to how their relationship itself could be healed. That shift gave them hope again.

You might also find helpful: Unlocking Peaceful Conversations: How Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC Can Help You Break the Fight

What is Holding You Back from Starting Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC?

Imagine this for a moment:

Connecting on a Deeper Level

Through marriage counseling, you are able to connect with your partner in a deeper way. Maybe even deeper than ever before. You really get each other. You have each other’s backs. You are finally on the same team, no longer seeing each other as a competition or a rival. You can have conversations that bring back the love and understanding between you two.

Growing Closer

You feel close and connected, enjoying life with your best friend by your side. Through marriage counseling Wake Forest NC, we find ways to deepen your emotional and physical bond. It's like building a strong bridge of love that brings you even closer.

Resolving Disagreements

You still have conflicts sometimes, but you now know that conflict is a part of any healthy relationship. More importantly, now you have the tools to navigate them. You are able to move through conflicts in a healthy way. You and your partner feel empowered to resolve disagreements and find compromises that bring joy and harmony to both of you. Who knew that after everything you’ve been through, you can learn how to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and understanding that works for both of you!

Sharing Feelings and Listening

Being able to share your feelings and listen to each other is super important. In counseling, you’ve learnt how to communicate better, so you can express yourselves and understand each other's needs. You feel like you’ve finally cracked a secret code that strengthens your bond.

You might also find helpful: He Said, She Said: Breaking the Cycle of Conflict with Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC Insights

Irina's Approach to Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC

I will be honest. There are so many amazing therapists out there who are passionate and really good at what they do. I meet such therapists and collaborate with them on a monthly basis. However, some are less enthusiastic about their job. They are completely content with their "wash-rinse-repeat" kind of approach, and it shows.  

If you are like me, you'd probably hate to be stuck with the latter.

I absolutely love my job. I feel honored to be trusted by my couples. I feel deeply moved by their vulnerable stories. I love learning. I'm always looking for the next insight, research study, podcast, or breakthrough that can help me and my clients to deepen our understanding of ourselves and our well-being. I make recommendations for books and YouTube clips all the time. Sometimes, I'll recommend a podcast, YouTube video, or a book that I know will speak directly to a couple's struggle. For instance, one husband found an outside insight in listening to a podcast about men and emotional suppression, which gave him the words he hadn't been able to express in years.

And my clients can see and feel that passion and curiosity in our work together. Unlike many therapists out there, I do not think of myself as an expert. Instead, I see myself as a fellow traveler. I believe that my clients are the experts of their own lives. And I believe that my clients have an in-built propensity towards self-actualization, where my job is to help them remove all the obstacles that keep them stuck.

You might also find helpful: Why I am a therapist

Dr. Julie Smith, a UK clinical psychologist, uses one analogy I particularly like, and I'll paraphrase it here. Imagine you have a wound on your hand. The doctor will probably prescribe antibiotics, an ointment, or other medications. With time, the wound will heal. It will take some time, but it will, eventually. However, it wasn't the doctor who healed it. What the doctor did was create the right conditions for healing. It was your body that actually did the work.

It's the same in marriage counseling. Marriage counseling Wake Forest creates the conditions for your relationship to heal. But it will be you and your partner who do the healing.

Yes, sometimes I make mistakes. And when I do, I own them. My style is direct. So, I often worry that my words came out too strongly. In that case, I circle back and check in with my clients during our next session to make sure I stay relevant to them and effective in what I do. That honesty builds trust.

Oh, and yes—I sometimes swear in sessions (when it helps). Clients often say it makes the space feel more real and human.

You might also find helpful: Will you tell us if you think we should just divorce/break up?

What Makes EFT So Effective When It Comes to Marriage Counseling Wake Forest?

Emotionally Focused Therapy, or EFT, is one of the most empirically validated interventions that revolutionized couple therapy. It was developed by Dr. Susan Johnson, a Canadian psychologist, and is primarily based on attachment needs and emotions. Recent research in love science points out that humans are bonding animals. This means that our brains and nervous systems have been designed to feel loved and connected to our partners, providing us with a sense of support during times of distress.

EFT-based marriage counseling Wake Forest can help you and your partner recognize your key emotional responses and how they shape your interactions. After this, we will work on creating alternative responses and patterns of interaction between the two of you, which will eventually create a secure bond and a deeper connection.

My favorite part about EFT?

EFT does not see one partner as wrong or right. Instead, it sees the cycle (which is all the negative, repetitive patterns of interaction in which a couple is stuck) as an enemy. EFT for couples helps partners step back and see the bigger picture of their relationship cycle. Beneath recurring conflicts, it often comes down to unmet attachment needs, unresolved emotional wounds, and hidden feelings that are driving the disconnection. Here, the therapist helps the couple reframe their distressing relational moments using attachment language.

This is something most couples in marriage counseling Wake Forest find normalizing and liberating because they learn that there is nothing "broken" about them.

You might also find helpful: What to expect during your first couples therapy session?

Quality Marriage Counseling Raleigh NC, and Online Therapy North Carolina.

At Marriage Counseling Wake Forest NC, I offer the best marriage counseling I can using the most empirically validated modality called Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT).

This is not your typical weekly kind of therapy. I am here to help couples and individuals in relationships do what is proven to work to help them heal their relationships. Through  marriage retreat in North Carolina, online therapy North Carolina, and Ketamine Therapy, there is something for every couple who wants to heal their relationship.

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Hi, I'm Irina Baechle, LCSW, in Wake Forest, NC. I believe in the power of healthy relationships and write on that topic.

Whether you and a partner are co-creating a healthy marriage or you are single , navigating how to have healthy relationships, my content is for you.

Let's make healthy, trustworthy marriages the norm instead of the exception!

Topics I write about include marriage, infidelity, roommate marriage, sexless marriage, healthy second marriages, ketamine assisted psychotherapy, and healing after toxic or unfaithful marriages.

Have questions about marriage counseling? Visit the FAQ to find out more.