What Is Imago Relationship Therapy?
Imago Therapy is a type of relationship therapy that allows couples to strengthen their connection and heal deep wounds. By helping partners to be more present and empathetic in their conversations with one another, Imago Therapy gives couples an opportunity to navigate misunderstanding, reduce conflict, and re-establish trust.
Imago Therapy was developed by two clinicians—a couple—Drs. Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt in 1980. Deriving from the Latin word for “image,” Imago Therapy was founded on the premise that conflict in relationships and marriages often mirrors trauma from our childhood. According to Dr. Hendrix’s book Getting the Love You Want, our brains work hard to select a partner and oftentimes those prerequisites are based on how we were raised.
With the insights offered through Imago Therapy, couples can learn more about each other’s childhood wounds and approach the relationship with more empathy. Rather than seeing conflict as “bad,” the Imago model views conflict as a chance for compassion and growth. Compared to other marriage or couples counseling approaches that focus on present issues and de-escalation, the Imago model uses conflict as a tool for development while emphasizing the importance of early relationships.
Imago Therapy combines evidence-based therapies, including cognitive, behavioral, and Gestalt, alongside depth psychology and behavioral sciences. Studies show that this approach to counseling increases empathy among couples. For this reason, Imago Therapy can be particularly helpful for treating couples who struggle with trust, communication, and intimacy issues.
How Does Imago Therapy Work?
The function of Imago Therapy is to establish a “dialogue” between partners. Because this approach centers around empathy, conversations in Imago Therapy are not used for blame or reactivity but rather to foster a sense of mutual understanding.
This process begins by exploring childhood relationships. Because Imago revolves around the idea that we search for a partner to fulfill unmet needs from childhood, it’s important that both partners have an awareness of the early influences and wounds present within the relationship.
As couples build awareness and compassion, they will realize that instead of signaling some fundamental incompatibility in the relationship, conflict and reactivity reflect past hurt. With this awareness, couples can achieve a “Conscious Relationship.”
An Imago therapist helps couples develop effective communication techniques—including mirroring—wherein each partner learns how to listen without judgment. From there, an Imago therapist will encourage partners to validate one another. With these elements, empathy is built.
By helping clients to understand past wounds and identify triggers within their intimate relationship, Imago therapists can see deep, lasting, and meaningful change in their work with couples.
Imago Therapy At The Relationship Suite
At The Relationship Suite in New York City and New Jersey, we are passionate about applying Dr. Hendrix’s model in our work with a variety of couples. We have seen the tremendous effect that empathetic Imago dialogue has on our clients’ abilities to be communicative and sensitive to one another’s struggles. With Imago, our couples have grown together and deepened their connection.
Our practice incorporates other approaches alongside Imago Therapy, including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). When combined with Imago, these methods help couples in counseling to be more present and aware while fostering a deeper understanding of emotional wounds.
In addition, Imago Therapy can be used to treat individuals who are looking to enhance their intimate connections with others. Many clients find this approach helpful for identifying unhealthy patterns in relationships and understanding how early experiences with caretakers impacted them. Because we offer relationship counseling to individuals, we have seen the value of Imago Therapy in treating clients in New York and New Jersey who are looking for lasting, healing love.
Empathy Is The Key To A Healthy Relationship
If you experience frequent misunderstanding, disagreement, or a lack of intimacy in your relationships, Imago Therapy can help you develop a deeper awareness of one another.
To learn more about our approach to Imago Therapy at The Relationship Suite in New York or New Jersey, call (917) 273 – 8836 or contact us via our site.
