2 mins

What happens in couples therapy?

Video Description

Clinical psychologist Emma Smith explains how in problematic relationships one partner often wants to resolve things while the other may withdraw. Couples therapy is a way to change the conversation. Chelsea Psychology Clinic are a group of London psychologists and psychiatrists offering private psychological therapy and psychiatry treatment from their premises across central London and Chelsea. The private therapy sessions cover the following areas: – Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – Cognitive Analytic Therapy – Cognitive-behavioural Therapy – Couples Therapy – Dialectical-behaviour Therapy – Mentalisation Based Treatment – Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy – Schema Therapy https://www.thechelseapsychologyclinic.com

Video Transcription

So people come to couples therapy when there is a problem in the relationship. And our role as therapists is to help them work out what’s happening, develop a formulation of how it’s got to this point, and then a treatment plan for how to actually start to make changes within the relationship. A common pattern that often happens is that one partner has withdrawn from the relationship, and another partner is pursuing or fighting in the relationship. And this can really keep couples stuck, because if one partner wants to work things out and resolve things and the other one’s withdrawing, then there’s not really anywhere to go. So our role as therapists is to provide safe enough space so that people can actually start to have a different kind of conversation to connect with each other’s feelings and intentions and motivations and understand why each partner is actually reacting in the way they are so that they can start to change it.

Dr Emma Smith

Dr Emma Smith

19 June 2022

"Dr Emma Smith completed her BSc (Hons) at the University of Warwick, an MSc in Forensic Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Christ Church Canterbury University. She worked as a clinical psychologist in a specialist service in a Central London NHS Trust until moving to Sussex where she now works as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the NHS and continues to offer sessions with The Chelsea Psychology Clinic online."

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Dr Elena Touroni

Dr Elena Touroni is a skilled and experienced consultant psychologist with a track record of delivering high-quality services for individuals with all common emotional difficulties and those with a diagnosis of personality disorder. She is experienced in service design and delivery, the management of multi-disciplinary teams, organisational consultancy, and development and delivery of both national and bespoke training to providers in the statutory and non-statutory sector.


Having obtained a first degree in Psychology (BSc) at the American College of Greece, she completed her doctoral training at the University of Surrey. Dr Touroni is highly experienced in the assessment and treatment of depression, anxiety, substance misuse, personality disorder, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, adjustment disorder and relationship difficulties. She works with both individuals and couples and can offer therapy in English and Greek.


Dr Touroni has held a variety of clinical and managerial positions including as Head of Service in the NHS. Further she has held academic positions for the University of Surrey and the Institute of Mental Health lecturing on specialist postgraduate Masters and Doctorate programmes.


She is trained in several specialist therapeutic approaches such as schema therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based approaches and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT). As well as holding a variety of NHS positions, Dr. Touroni is the co-founder of a private practice in Central London that has been a provider of psychological therapy for all common emotional difficulties including personality disorder since 2002. She is the founder and one of two directors of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic.