Couples Therapy in Stockholm in English – Near Odenplan

A relationship can be a source of security, closeness and shared meaning, while also becoming the place where recurring difficulties are felt most strongly.

Couples may find themselves having the same argument repeatedly, struggling to communicate about sensitive issues, losing emotional connection or experiencing changes in trust, intimacy and sexuality.

I offer in-person couples therapy in central Stockholm, in the Odenplan/Vasastan area. Sessions are available in English, Swedish and German.

This makes the practice a good fit for English-speaking and international couples in Stockholm who prefer to work in English.

Coming to the practice together gives you time to look at what happens between you: how contact is sought, how conflict develops, what each person is trying to protect, and which needs become difficult to express.

Sitting in the same room, we can slow these processes down and understand them more precisely.

My approach is psychodynamic and relationship-focused , supported by further training in clinical sexology. Where it fits your situation, I bring in sexual-therapeutic perspectives informed by Desjardins and IMAGO-informed elements – always adapted to your particular relationship.

In everyday life, couples often lack the conditions needed for difficult conversations. Important subjects are raised when both people are tired, while children need attention, between work commitments or after tension has already built up.

Even a conversation that begins with good intentions can quickly return to a familiar pattern.

Coming to a therapy room creates a different frame. The relationship receives its own time and place.

For some couples, the physical transition from daily life into a neutral therapeutic setting is particularly helpful because it allows both partners to arrive with greater focus.

You do not need to wait for an acute crisis. Couples therapy can also be used earlier, when you recognise a pattern you want to understand before frustration, withdrawal or resentment become more established.

Couples come to therapy with many different concerns. Some are dealing with a specific event; others describe a gradual change over months or years.

Several themes may be connected, and the work begins by understanding how they fit together in your relationship.

The visible subject of an argument may change while the underlying interaction remains the same.

One person raises an issue, the other feels criticised, one becomes more insistent, the other withdraws, and both end up feeling alone or misunderstood.

In the session, we trace the sequence as it unfolds, alongside the topic itself. Understanding when the pattern begins and what becomes vulnerable for each partner creates opportunities for different responses.

Words are only one part of communication. Timing, tone, body language, previous experiences and expectations influence what is heard.

A request for closeness may be experienced as pressure, while a need for space may be interpreted as rejection.

The therapeutic conversation slows these moments down so that both perspectives can be expressed and understood with greater precision.

Partners rarely need exactly the same amount of closeness, shared time and independence. Difficulties often arise when these differences acquire painful meanings: lack of love, control, indifference or abandonment.

Couples therapy can help identify the needs and protective responses underneath these movements and support more direct negotiation of closeness and autonomy.

Infidelity, secrecy, broken agreements or repeated experiences of unreliability can alter the sense of safety in a relationship. Trust may also erode gradually through emotional absence or unresolved conflict.

Therapy creates space for the hurt, accountability and the question of what is needed now. For some couples, the work supports rebuilding; for others, it helps clarify the future of the relationship.

When a relationship is under strain, explanations can become fixed: one partner is described as too distant, too sensitive, too demanding or not committed enough.

These descriptions may contain real frustration, but they often leave both people defending themselves.

In therapy, we shift attention towards the interaction. What happens immediately before one person withdraws? What leads the other to pursue contact more strongly?

Which expectations are active? The pattern can then be examined as something the couple gets caught in rather than as proof that one person alone is the problem.

Responsibility remains important. Harmful behaviour, boundaries and injuries need to be named clearly. At the same time, a more nuanced understanding can create space for change.

My therapeutic foundation is psychodynamic psychotherapy and analytical psychology. Close relationships touch fundamental needs for safety, autonomy, recognition, belonging and emotional connection. Earlier relational experiences can influence how present situations are interpreted.

Silence may be a simple pause for one partner and feel like rejection to the other.

A question may be intended as interest and experienced as control. A request for closeness may feel loving to one person and intrusive to the other.

Exploring these meanings helps us understand why certain moments carry particular emotional weight and how that understanding can support different experiences in the present relationship.

IMAGO-informed approaches can be useful when conversations rapidly move into defensiveness, counterarguments or withdrawal. A more structured dialogue can help one partner receive the other's experience before responding from their own position.

I integrate these elements flexibly within a broader psychodynamic and relationship-focused process. They are used where they help the particular couple rather than as a fixed programme.

Sexuality and intimacy are central themes for many couples and can also be difficult to discuss.

Desire changes over time, partners may have different rhythms or wishes, and stress, health, parenting, ageing, body image and the emotional climate of the relationship can all affect sexual connection.

In the Stockholm practice, these subjects can be discussed openly and at a pace that feels manageable for both of you.

My further training in clinical sexology, together with sexual-therapeutic work informed by Desjardins, allows them to become a natural part of couples therapy.

The focus lies on how each of you experiences desire, intimacy, boundaries and connection.

When sexuality is the primary reason for seeking help, a more specifically focused sexual-therapy process may be appropriate. The Sexual Therapy page describes this work in more detail, including individual sessions in Stockholm.

Couples therapy is available regardless of gender, sexual orientation or relationship background. The focus is the specific relationship, its agreements, needs, difficulties, strengths and possibilities for development.

For LGBTQ+ couples, experiences related to identity, minority stress, family responses or social expectations may also be relevant. These themes can be included where they matter without reducing the relationship to identity categories.

Stockholm is home to many people whose relationships cross languages, countries and cultural contexts. For an international couple, having therapy in a shared language can be especially important when discussing emotionally complex or highly nuanced subjects.

Cultural differences may influence expectations about family, independence, gender roles, communication, sexuality, money, parenting or responsibility. Differences themselves are not a problem; difficulties often arise when each partner assumes that their own framework is self-evident.

I work in English, Swedish and German and have professional experience across Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. This international background supports work with couples whose lives and relationships extend across different cultural contexts.

The practice is centrally located in Stockholm in the Odenplan/Vasastan area. This local setting is relevant for couples who want in-person therapy that can be integrated into work and family life without travelling outside the city.

Odenplan is a major public transport hub and is accessible from many parts of Stockholm. The full address is shown at the bottom of every page.

Couples outside Stockholm, people who travel frequently or partners living in different places may find the Online Couples Therapy page more relevant.

In the first session, both partners have space to describe the relationship from their own perspective.

It is entirely normal for two people to experience the same events differently. Those differences are useful information and do not need to be resolved before therapy begins.

We identify the themes that currently need attention, your hopes for therapy and what kind of therapeutic framework may be appropriate.

In subsequent sessions, we look more closely at concrete situations and recurring patterns. Both perspectives remain present. I help you notice what happens in the interaction, understand emotional responses and explore new ways of relating.

Depending on the concern, psychodynamic, IMAGO-informed and sexual-therapeutic perspectives may be combined.

What is understood in therapy becomes especially meaningful when it begins to influence daily life. Couples often start noticing a familiar pattern earlier and gain more opportunity to respond differently.

Where useful, observations or small reflection tasks can be agreed between sessions without turning the therapeutic process into a rigid homework programme.

In-person and online couples therapy belong to the same therapeutic practice but meet different practical needs.

The Stockholm practice provides a neutral physical space outside the home. Many couples value the deliberate transition of travelling to a shared appointment.

Online couples therapy offers greater flexibility for people outside Stockholm, couples with long travel times, frequent travellers or partners who are currently in different locations. It also allows continuity when international circumstances change.

Which format fits best depends on your situation. The dedicated online page explains video-based couples therapy in more detail.

I am a licensed psychotherapist in Sweden (legitimerad psykoterapeut) and see couples at my practice near Odenplan.

Before settling in Stockholm, I worked for many years in private practice in Zurich and Kiel. My analytical training took place at the C. G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht/Zurich.

Further training in clinical sexology and sexual science informs my work with couples, alongside IMAGO-informed and Desjardins-informed perspectives where they are helpful.

In the room, I stay alongside both of you. My role is to help you understand the relationship dynamic, make different perspectives visible and find new possibilities for contact and change.

Before booking a first appointment at the practice, you may want to reflect on which areas of your relationship need attention. The self-assessment page offers a calm first orientation for this.

The self-assessment is non-diagnostic and leaves the decision about therapy with you.

It helps you notice themes such as communication, conflict patterns, closeness, trust, sexuality and shared direction – and can be a useful starting point for your first session in Stockholm.

A couples intake questionnaire is available as a PDF. You can complete it at home and bring it to your first appointment at the practice.

It gathers important background information, current concerns, the relationship context and your expectations of therapy.

The questionnaire serves purely as preparation and is separate from the self-assessment. You will find the download and practical information on the central questionnaires and preparation page.

If you want to understand recurring patterns in your relationship, change difficult interactions or create more room for trust, intimacy and mutual understanding, you can enquire about an initial couples session in Stockholm.

Current fees and the contact form are at the bottom of every page. If you live outside Stockholm or need a more flexible format, English-language online couples therapy is also available.