Couples Therapy in Encinitas, California with Cristina Trette, LMFT

Our love relationship has the power to challenge us, transform us, and help us evolve.

Even the strongest relationships go through periods of conflict, distance, and disconnection. These challenges can become opportunities for profound personal and relationship growth. Couples therapy invites you to understand yourself and your partner more deeply, heal the past, and transform the patterns that keep you stuck - creating the possibility for a healthier, more fulfilling relationship and personal wellbeing.

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Does Something Need To Change?

  • Do you keep having the same arguments, no matter how hard you try to communicate differently?

  • Do small disagreements turn into escalated fights, pulling away, or days of tension and disconnection?

  • Do you feel more like roommates than lovers and miss the closeness, affection, and intimacy you once shared?

  • Do you feel overwhelmed or resentful about unequal demands of work, parenting, household responsibilities, and everyday life?

  • Has infidelity shattered your trust, leaving you wondering whether your relationship can heal?

  • Is your marriage in crisis or at a crossroads, and you are unsure whether to work on it or separate?

A woman in a light-colored shirt and dark pants sitting on a beige armchair, smiling during a conversation with two people whose backs are visible in the foreground in a cozy room with a bookshelf and plants.

Meet Cristina Trette, Couples Therapist

I have dedicated my career to helping couples renew their love, communicate more effectively, and cultivate greater intimacy and connection. At the heart of my work is the belief that meaningful change is possible, even after years of disconnection or significant hurt.

My approach is rooted in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Relational Life Therapy, and attachment theory, which offer powerful ways of understanding romantic relationships. In my work with couples, we go beyond surface-level problems to understand and change the underlying patterns that create conflict and distance.

I believe couples therapy should be active, direct, and highly engaged. I don't sit back and let couples fight, spend months rehashing the past, or simply listen and validate. I help people understand themselves and each other more deeply and create new ways of interacting in the room.

Healthy relationships require more than love. They require mutual honesty, accountability, partnership, and a willingness to grow. Whether that means rebuilding a romantic relationship or finding a dignified way to separate, my goal is to help people move forward with greater understanding and care for themselves and each other.

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Focus Areas

  • Communication

    I help couples communicate clearly, so each person feels heard and understood, rather than getting pulled into patterns of fighting or avoiding conflict.

  • Intimacy

    I support couples to cultivate emotional and sexual connection and revitalize their love through honest and vulnerable dialouge and engaged conversations.

  • Partnership

    I guide couples to create a balanced and supportive partnership, navigate differences, share responsibilities, and work as a team.

  • Relational Trauma

    I help couples recognize how past trauma shows up in their relationship, and guide them to change protective patterns, and respond with care.

  • Infidelity

    I help couples process emotional pain, engage in honest conversations, rebuild trust, and move forward, whether they stay together or part ways.

  • Brink of Divorce

    I guide couples to slow down, explore options, and develop confidence and clarity on next steps when their relationship has reached a breaking point.

You have options when it comes to therapy. Here is why my approach is different.

Couples Are My Specialty

Many therapists occasionally work with couples; couples therapy is all I do. I am deeply experienced in the common challenges couples face, from difficulties with communication, conflict, parenting, division of household duties, sex, and patterns of anxious pursuit and avoidant withdrawal. I am also well versed in relationship crises such as couples facing the aftermath of infidelity or the brink of divorce.

Extensive and Ongoing Training

I hold a Masters Degree in Marital and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego and am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. I engage in ongoing training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy and Relational Life Therapy, two of the most researched and effective approaches to relationship healing, so the therapy you receive is thoughtful, current, and effective.

I Practice What I Teach

I know firsthand how challenging it can be to nurture a loving relationship while navigating the demands of parenting, family, careers, and everyday life. The principles that guide my work with clients are prioritized within my own relationship and family.

Professionalism and Maturity

I bring life experience, clinical depth, and direct guidance to help you understand the patterns and behaviors that keep you stuck and guide you towards positive, meaningful, and lasting change.

Warm, Personal, and Engaged Care

Operating a solo boutique practice enables me to be accessible, responsive, and engaged with my clients. If indicated, I provide text coaching for in between session check-ins. I also coordinate care with individual therapists and psychiatrists to ensure my clients have a team of support. In addition, I have a network of professionals I regularly refer my clients to including financial advisors, mediators, and lawyers.

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