You may recognize your relationship in these words:

• "I feel like my partner doesn't understand what I'm saying."
• "My partner says I don't communicate enough."
• "We can talk about practical things, but emotional conversations are hard."
• "My partner needs everything to happen a certain way."
• "I feel like I'm always walking on eggshells around their routines."
• "My partner seems overwhelmed by things that don't bother me."
• "Sometimes my partner wants physical closeness, and sometimes they seem to pull away."
• "I don't understand why my partner needs so much alone time."
• "We love each other, but we experience closeness very differently."
• "We're both successful professionally, but our marriage feels like it's falling apart."

If some of these sound familiar, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be an important part of understanding your relationship.

ASD Couples Therapy in Atlanta & Throughout Georgia

Autism can influence the way a person communicates, processes information, experiences sensory input, manages transitions, and understands social and emotional cues. Those differences can become especially significant in an intimate relationship, where partners are constantly navigating expectations, emotional connection, physical closeness, and everyday life together.

Sometimes autism is already diagnosed. Sometimes one partner has wondered about autism for years. And sometimes neither partner has considered it at all as they only know the stereotypes or the higher supports needs presentations.

When ASD and neurocomplexity aren't understood, behaviors that have a perfectly understandable explanation can be interpreted very differently by the other partner.

A need for routine can look like control.

Sensory sensitivity can look like rejection.

Needing time to process can look like emotional withdrawal.

Difficulty reading an unspoken cue can look like not caring.

And once those interpretations take hold, couples can become caught in a painful cycle of misunderstanding and hurt.

My approach is grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and informed by an understanding of neurodivergent relationships.

Rather than treating one partner as the problem, we'll look at the cycle that has developed between you.

Schedule a free ten-minute consultation to talk about what's happening in your relationship and whether couples therapy might be helpful.