When you need a couples expert that does more than talk.

A team of couples therapists helping couples heal through innovative brain based techniques.

Meet Your Couples Therapist In Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside & Temecula

There are a lot of options out there for choosing help for you and your relationship. You want more than just talking about the pain. It feels like you do that already with your friends and partner. You want support in healing and creating a relationship that you actually love coming home to. You also want to see someone who really knows how to help couples.

I am here to help. I’m not just going to talk your ear off or take sides. I use brain based techniques like ketamine therapy and brainspotting and pair that with my unique skill in working with couples through issues such as deciding to stay or go, infidelity repair, trauma and anxiety. Book a consult to discover how couples counseling can rapidly shift the way you feel in your relationship.

 

Alicia Taverner, Licensed Marriage & Family therapist, Owner of Rancho Counseling, License #50414

 I’m Alicia. I’m not intimidated. Bring me all of your shit! I’ve spent the last 15 years working with couples just like you.

Let’s get crystal clear on the patterns and create a plan of action to start unraveling this now.

HOW I WORK WITH COUPLES AND INDIVIDUALS IN COUNSELING AND KETAMINE THERAPY

I go outside of the box and we can talk about integrating Brainspotting or even Ketamine Assisted Therapy into this plan of action. 

I help couples who are exhausted from trying to heal their relationships after infidelity or years of resentments to start understanding each other and learn to appreciate one another. I help couples who are truly committed but feel like they’ve tried everything else. 

I believe that my clients are experts in their own lives, and that I am there to support them, and lead them in the right direction.

If you’re ready to create lasting change in your relationship click the link below and we can hop on a call. I’ll share more about my style and we’ll talk about what type of therapy is right for you - whether it be weekly sessions, an intensive, or Ketamine Assisted Therapy, I’ll make sure you’re in the right place and we are a good fit.

FAQs About Counseling

 
 

How often should I come to counseling?

Therapy works best when clients come in weekly. By the time many clients come to therapy they are really ready for a change. Having weekly sessions helps to get the process started, and helps to gain some momentum. Many things can be happening on a daily basis, and having weekly sessions allows opportunity to discuss those things as they happen and leaves less time for things to fester. We will be continually evaluating the way things are going, and when you begin to feel relief and goals are being met, meetings can become less frequent - this is typically in the termination phase of therapy and discussed along with your therapist.

That said we also offer intensives for those who want to find relief sooner than weekly therapy.

How long does a counseling session last?

Each individual session is 50 minutes in length.

Each couples session is 50 minutes in length. 

Group sessions are 1.5 hours in length. 

Intensives range from 1 to 3 days.

Each person and situation is different and most clients come to therapy for 8-20 sessions, but the length of treatment is always up to you. The length of treatment is based on the amount of change you want to make, how deep your hurt is, and how committed you are to making lasting change.

What payment methods do you accept for counseling sessions and intensives?

You may pay with cash, check, debit or credit card. I accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

What if I want to use my insurance to pay for counseling?

We do our best to keep our work with clients separate from insurance companies. In doing so, we find that clients are able to better reach their goals, and make more progress in therapy. Often times insurance companies dictate the amount of sessions that clients need, and how work should be completed.

We believe that these decisions should be made by the client and therapist. Insurance companies also require that we make a clinical mental health diagnosis, which we do not believe is necessary in order for treatment to be effective. While we do not provide insurance billing, we can however provide you with a receipt which is accepted from some PPO insurances, and a reimbursement may be provided.

Not working with insurance gives clients the utmost choice and control over their healing process, and it gives us the ability to set lower fees, and to have more time to focus on clients, which is what we really love to do!

In the media 

Podcast interviews: 

THE COUPLES EXPERT PODCAST

EPISODE 79 - INFIDELITY FROM A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE

In this episode, Alicia also discusses:

  • Sexting and how it impacts couples

  • Infidelity and how she helps couples work through it

  • Why grieving needs to happen after infidelity

  • The different types of therapy and how attachment therapy varies from Alicia’s method

  • Why you have to look at what happened before in the relationship to cause infidelity

  • If you have a happy marriage, you won’t have to deal with infidelity

  • What makes a marriage “affair proof”

  • How to find out what you need from your partner to be able to move on

  • An affair is about far more that sex

  • Whether information about an affair should be disclosed

  • Why both parties contribute to the affair by the condition of the relationship that leads to the affair

  • Why you both have to be ready to do the work of repairing your relationship after infidelity

  • The surprising thing Alicia learned about herself while doing her work


Women In-Depth Podcast

It was such fun and such an honor to be interviewed on the Women In-Depth Podcast with Lourdes Viado, PhD. For more info about the podcast go to: http://lourdesviado.com/podcast/

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • Why Alicia’s purpose in therapy has always been to help and support women

  • How her practice focuses on women and couples who are trying to “put themselves back together”

  • Statistics on extra-marital affairs: (they are more common than you think!)

  • The HUGE paradox in our beliefs and actions

  • The importance of the language we use surrounding infidelity

  • What is an “affair”?

  • The emotional impact

  • How women and men differ in their reactions to affairs

  • How a relationship becomes vulnerable to an affair

  • From Alicia’s blog: 5 things that come between couples and cause affairs

  • The roles of disconnection and loneliness

  • Why people have affairs

  • The Vacuum of the Affair

  • How to strengthen your relationship connection

  • Don’t play “the blame game”

  • How to take responsibility and HEAL

  • Why the same problems might still exist

  • Myths about infidelity

  • Qualities of couples who recover

  • Why an affair is a psychological trauma

  • Alicia’s advice



KCAA Morning Show


The Midori Verity Show

Overcoming Infidelity - Can your marriage survive Infidelity? 

 


Psychologytoday.com 

What is the 'Right" way to Quit

In marriage, the seven-year itch occurs when a couple that has been together for a while (say, seven years), suddenly experiences a decline of happiness in their relationship. The phrase, which was popularized by the book and its 1955 film adaptation, The Seven Year Itch, is now applied beyond relationships.

The itching has spread to switching careers, making purchases and pretty much any other situation. And thanks to the rise of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), a panic-inducing psychological state made possible by social media, the incubation period, which once took seven years, now requires only a few months, a few days, a few hours even -- before you’re ready to call it quits.

Walking away from something, however, doesn’t have to be a bad experience. Here’s expert advice on what you can do to ensure your happy ending: Keep reading


Seattle bride magazine

What is the "Right" Age to Get Married?

Getting married when you’re too young could result in divorce, of course. But waiting too long—and it’s not nearly as long as you might think—could be just as problematic. Newer research shows that divorce trends in America are changing. But can your marriage really be at risk before it even begins?

Keep reading to learn more about when to get married. 


Talkspace.com

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About How Therapy Actually Works

The first time I pulled my car up to a therapist’s office, I had no idea what the experience would be like. The only images I had were from “Good Will Hunting” and “Equus,” both great movies but ones that don’t accurately portray therapy. I was skeptical, worried it would be a waste of time and money. After years of chatting with therapists, other therapy-goers and people who were on the fence, I learned many people who consider therapy feel similarly before they commit.

Therapy is a little different for everyone, but there are common myths and misconceptions that aren’t true, ones that prevent people from receiving the benefits I have. To break this stigma barrier, I reached out to therapists and drew upon my own experience. Keep reading to learn the truth about therapy.


Lady Lux Magazine

What's your love language? 

If your sweetheart gives you a gift, does it make you feel loved? Or do you prefer if it he fixes that squeaky cabinet door? Maybe, being held and kissed is what makes you feel adored, or spending time together, or perhaps just hearing him say “I love you.” Whatever makes your heart sing indicates your emotional love language.

The concept of love languages is based in Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages. The book has been oft-quoted because of how important it is to recognize your partner’s love language and talk to them in that language, not whichever language you personally prefer. It’s easy to give another person what we want ourselves – but for truly lasting love, you need to give them what they need. Chapman’s website offers an online test to determine your own love language.

Continue reading the article here


Inland Empire Magazine

What's love got to do with it?

Many clients ask what they should be looking for when searching for their ideal partner. They also wonder how to keep the love alive in their relationships. Here is an article in which experts weigh in on what it takes to keep relationships going. You'll see my contribution to the article, which was featured in the February, 2011 edition of Inland Empire Magazine.