Marriage Counseling & Couples Therapy in Temecula and Murrieta, CA
You still love each other. You just cannot find each other anymore.
It is a Tuesday night. The house is finally quiet, and the two of you are on opposite ends of the couch, both pretending to scroll. Nobody is fighting. Nobody is talking either. If that quiet feels familiar, stay with me. That night can end differently.
- Janine Piernas, LMFTLicensed Marriage & Family Therapist
- Gottman & EFTResearch-backed couples methods
- 15+ YearsWorking with couples
- 5.0 on GoogleRated by the couples I work with
Sound Familiar?
Most couples do not fall out of love. They fall out of closeness.
It rarely happens all at once. It happens in the conversations you stopped having, the moments that went unanswered, and the nights you went to bed upset because it felt easier than going another round.
Every real conversation turns into the same argument.Communication
You feel more like roommates or co-managers than partners.Emotional distance
Touch, sex, even a real hug has quietly disappeared.Intimacy
Trust was broken, and you are not sure it can be rebuilt.Trust and infidelity
You are great parents and strangers to each other.Parenting
One of you pushes to talk. The other shuts down. Both of you are exhausted.The pursue and withdraw cycle
A baby, a move, a loss, or a new job changed everything.Life transitions
You keep saying "we should get help," and then another month goes by.Waiting
You do not have to fit neatly into any of these. You just have to be willing to show up.
Fight less. Listen better. Like each other again.
Arguments that end sooner.
You will still disagree. Every couple does. The difference is that one fight no longer takes the whole weekend with it, and you both know how to come back from it.
Both of you feel heard.
Not just the partner who talks more or louder. Both of you leave feeling understood, often for the first time in years.
A home that feels restful again.
The house stops being a place where you brace yourself. Closeness comes back a little at a time, until it starts to feel normal again.
Marriage Counseling in Temecula, CA
Couples therapy that actually goes somewhere.
As a marriage counselor and couples therapist in Temecula, I utilize the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy, and I have worked with couples for more than 15 years. I am not a smile and nod therapist. I ask the hard questions. I go to the places most couples have been avoiding. And I do it with enough warmth and directness that most couples tell me they leave their first session feeling more understood than they have in years.
My client is the relationship. I do not take sides, and neither of you disappears in the room.
The Gottman Method
Built on decades of research into what makes relationships succeed or fail. Not theory. Evidence, translated into tools you can use at home.
Emotionally Focused Therapy
EFT gets underneath the surface conflict to the fear and longing driving it. When you understand what the fight is really about, the fight starts to change.
Built Around Your Dynamic
No two couples are the same. Before we go deep, I get to know each of you individually, so I understand both of you, not just the version that shows up when your partner is in the room.
The real work happens outside this office. It lives in the Tuesday evening when you choose to say the real thing instead of the safe thing. I will give you the tools. The relationship you build is yours.Janine Piernas, LMFT · Couples Therapist, Temecula CA
Couples Therapy for New Parents
Nobody prepares you for what a baby does to a relationship.
You planned for the sleepless nights. You did not plan for the intimacy that quietly disappears, the resentment when one of you feels like you are carrying more, or the moment you realize you stopped feeling like partners.
It does not mean anything is broken. It means you need support. The best thing you can give your kids is a steady relationship to grow up around.
Real words from real couples.
★★★★★ 5.0 stars across 33 Google reviews
Janine was very instrumental in giving us tools to help us communicate effectively and guiding us in a direction to save our marriage. We are so grateful for everything she has done for us.
Google ReviewAfter every session we have felt so refreshed and powered to conquer obstacles with a much clearer direction and understanding for one another.
Google ReviewFees and Investment
What couples therapy costs.
Couples therapy is private pay. I provide superbills if you would like to seek out-of-network reimbursement from your insurance. A relationship that works, and two people who actually like each other again, is worth more than a few months of sessions.
Free Consultation
30 minutes by phoneAssessment Session
90 minutes, togetherIndividual Sessions
60 minutes, one with each partner, part of your couples workOngoing Couples Session
60 minutesExtended Couples Session
90 minutesEvery session is with me, a licensed couples specialist, from day one. You are never handed off.
Payment by cash, Visa, Mastercard, or Zelle · 48-hour cancellation policy
Honest answers before you book.
Is marriage counseling different from couples therapy?
No. They are two names for the same work. Whether you call it marriage counseling or couples therapy, and whether you are married, engaged, or have been together for years without a ring, the work is the same: two people and one relationship.
Do we have to be in crisis to come to couples therapy?
Not at all. Some of the most productive work happens with couples who are not in crisis but can feel one coming. Coming in early means we have more to work with, before the patterns have had years to harden.
Will you take sides?
No. My client is the relationship. I hold both of you at the same time, and when I push, I push both of you. Neither partner gets to be the problem, and neither partner gets left out.
Do you accept insurance for couples therapy?
Couples therapy is private pay. Insurance typically does not cover relationship counseling, which is why most couples therapists work this way. I provide superbills if you would like to seek out-of-network reimbursement. Individual therapy is available through IEHP with limited openings.
What if my partner is hesitant to come?
This is one of the most common things I hear, and a hesitant partner does not mean therapy will not work. The free consultation is a low-pressure first step. Many skeptical partners become the most engaged people in the room once they feel safe.
How long does couples therapy take?
It depends on what you are working through. Some couples make meaningful progress in 8 to 12 sessions. Others work with me for a year or more. I will always be honest with you about where you are and what I think would actually help.
Do you see couples from Murrieta and nearby towns?
Yes. My office is in Temecula, a short drive for couples in Murrieta, Wildomar, Winchester, Menifee and Lake Elsinore, and Fallbrook. Couples also travel in from all over for intensives.
Do you offer telehealth couples therapy?
Yes. I see couples in person at my office in Temecula, CA, and by telehealth anywhere in California. Affair recovery work is in person only, at my Temecula office.
What is the difference between weekly therapy and an intensive?
Weekly therapy builds momentum over time. A couples intensive is one focused day, plus a follow-up session, that can move your relationship further than months of weekly sessions. Intensives work especially well for couples in acute crisis, or whose schedules make consistent weekly sessions difficult. Couples travel in from all over for them.
If weekly therapy feels too slow, or you need something different.
Couples Intensive
One focused day can move your relationship further than months of weekly sessions. Structured, deep, and built to move things forward.
From $1,500→ After InfidelityAffair Recovery Intensive
A concentrated program for couples navigating infidelity, because waiting a week between sessions is too long right now. In person in Temecula.
$2,000→ Stay or GoThe Clarity Session
For when one of you wants to work on it and the other has one foot out the door. One 2.5-hour session to come to a decision you can both stand behind.
$950→ ImmersiveRelationship Reset Retreat
A fully immersive experience for couples ready to step away from daily life and invest everything in each other.
By consultation→
Back to That Tuesday Night
Research shows most couples wait six years. You are already ahead.
Picture the same couch a few months from now. One of you says the real thing instead of the safe thing, and the other one stays. That night starts with a free 30-minute phone call.
Fight less. Listen better. Like each other again.
The relationship you want is closer than you think.