Couples therapy
Couples Therapy That Actually Changes Something
Couples therapy for long-term couples stuck in the same argument. Structured, science-based, online from anywhere in the UK, with tools you can actually use between sessions.
5.0 across 45+ verified reviews · 20+ years experience · Sessions online from anywhere in the UK
5.0 ★
45+ verified reviews on Bark and Google
20+ years
Skills, qualifications and experience
Online
UK wide and international, via Zoom
If you are searching for couples therapy
Couples therapy that hands you a framework, not just a sympathetic nod
Couples therapy in the UK covers a lot of very different work. Some of it is open-ended Relate-style talking. Some of it is clinical therapy by a registered therapist. What I offer sits in a third category. Structured couples coaching that uses the same psychological frameworks the best couples therapists use, then hands them to you as tools you can apply between sessions.
Most couples I see have already tried something. A few sessions of Relate. A private counsellor for six months. Reading The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work at midnight and trying to apply chapter four on a Tuesday morning.
I am Stephen Bradshaw, a Diploma-qualified Professional Coach with 20+ years of relevant skills, qualifications and experience. I work with couples, full-time, every day.
Why I do this work
Our own marriage needed serious work in 2016
A few months after our son was born, Nikki and I were not really a couple anymore. Postnatal depression, exhaustion and me retreating into work meant we stopped really talking to each other. We were polite. We were efficient. We were not us.
I share that because almost every couple I work with has thought, quietly, that they are the only ones secretly worrying that the marriage will not survive. You are not the only ones.
What changed it for us was not a stranger telling us we were normal. It was a couple of frameworks that gave us a shared language for what was happening, and a way to actually do something with it. That is what couples therapy ought to be.
How my couples therapy is structured
Plain English, no branded framework, no acronyms.
01
Discovery call
A free 45 minute conversation. I want to understand the pattern you are in before we agree to work together. If couples therapy is not the right answer, I will say so.
02
Bespoke 6 to 12 week programme
Weekly sessions over Zoom, designed around your situation. Attachment work, Gottman frameworks, transactional analysis, trigger and grounding work, applied to your actual conversations.
03
Tools, library and messaging
Every session leaves you with something to use. Full resource library and unlimited messaging support for the real-time wobbles between sessions.
What good couples therapy feels like
See how the work actually runs
Watch a short message about how this work actually feels in the room. Couples who have tried Relate, private counsellors or talk therapy describe this as the part that finally clicked.
Real client reviews
What real couples say about working with me
Verified reviews from couples who chose me for couples therapy.
★★★★★
“We learnt and grew so much in such little time. Steve showed us we are not alone in how we feel and provided us with information and methods. We finished the course having a clear plan for our future.”
Anonymous, Bark (Feb 2025)
★★★★★
“If you have a similar story or near to Stephens story I would highly recommend. Stephen has helped us a lot throughout our six sessions. If you and your partner are prepared to commit to the process then this process is for you.”
Jade S, Bark
★★★★★
“Stephen has been a really great couples coach over our six sessions. Every week he had a planned session which taught us how to communicate more effectively and bring us closer.”
TM, Bark
Common questions
If yours is not here, the discovery call is the right place to ask.
What is the difference between couples therapy, couples counselling and couples coaching?
Therapy is clinical and modality-based (CBT, EMDR, psychodynamic). Counselling tends to be open-ended and past-aware. Coaching is structured, forward-looking and tool-led. Most people search using “therapy” or “counselling”, which is why both appear on this page. The work itself is coaching.
Does couples therapy work?
It works when both of you (or one of you working alone) are willing to engage. The clients on the reviews page came in stuck and came out reconnected. The ones I cannot help are usually the ones where one partner’s heart is not in it, and no method fixes that.
How long does couples therapy take?
My core programme runs 6 to 12 weeks, with weekly sessions during the core block. Many couples notice shifts within the first 2 or 3 sessions. Bigger changes build across the full programme as the tools start to compound.
Is there couples therapy near me?
All sessions are online over Zoom, so geography is solved. Couples in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Belfast and across rural UK work with me weekly. International clients too.
Related reading on this site
Choose the closest fit to what you actually need.
Relationship Counselling
Honest relationship counselling, structured coaching, the difference it makes when both of you (or one of you) shows up to do the work.
Marriage Counselling
Practical marriage counselling for couples who need tools, not just talk. Structured 6 to 12 week programme, fully online.
Coaching vs Counselling
The honest difference between coaching, counselling and therapy. Work out the right kind of help before you spend money.
Ready to see if this fits?
Book a free 45 minute discovery call. It is a conversation, not a pitch. By the end we will both know whether couples therapy with me is the right next step.
~ Steve