Keely Rodriguez, LPC-S · Certified EMDR & Brainspotting Therapist · BRIA Certified Menopause Mental Health Provider
You still love each other.
You just can't stop having the same fight.
Couples therapy and marriage counseling in person in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, and online anywhere in Texas.
It’s the same cycle of fighting over and over again.
You know how this one goes.
One of you says something. The other one hears something slightly different. Within four minutes you are not talking about the calendar anymore, you are in the argument underneath it, the one you have had so many times you could each say the other's lines.
Then it is over. Someone apologizes, or nobody does. You go to bed. Tomorrow is fine. Next Thursday it happens again.
You may not be a couple in crisis but you know something has to change. Right now you are getting things done. You get the kids where they need to be. From the outside you look like people who have it together, and mostly you do.
But somewhere in the last few years you stopped being on the same team. You are not sure when. You just know you miss each other, and neither one of you can figure out how to say it without it turning into the fight.
You may have tried all the communication tips, but you are stuck in the same cycle.
You have probably tried a few things. The book. The podcast. The rule about not going to bed angry. Maybe a round of couples counseling somewhere that gave you a worksheet and taught you to say "I feel" instead of "you always."
Some of it helped a little. None of it lasted. That is not because you did not try hard enough, and it is not because one of you is the problem.
It is because the fight is not about what you are fighting about. Underneath it is a much older question, are you there, do I matter to you, am I still someone you are glad you picked, and no communication technique reaches that. You have to actually go there, with someone who knows how to take you there safely.
That is the work I do.
Keely Rodriguez, LPC-S
Provides couples therapy in person in Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley and online anywhere in Texas, using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) alongside a trauma specialist’s training in EMDR and Brainspotting.
How I work with couples
Hi, I’m Keely.
I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor-S. I am trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy, which is built on a simple idea: the enemy is not your partner. It is the pattern the two of you fall into when you are both scared.
So in my office we are not choosing sides and we are not keeping score. We slow the fight down until you can both see the shape of it, who reaches, who retreats, how fast it goes, and then we work on what is happening underneath it for each of you.
I am also a trauma specialist. That matters in couples work more than people expect. What one of you learned about love at eight years old is often sitting right in the middle of the argument you had last Tuesday. I know how to work with that.
Is this the right fit?
This is probably a fit if:
• You have been together long enough to have a real history, and you would like to keep going.
• You keep having the same fight and you are tired of it.
• One or both of you shut down, and you both hate it.
• Something happened, a betrayal, a breach of trust, and you are trying to decide what comes next.
• You want to actually get somewhere, not collect strategies.
This probably is not the right place right now if:
• There is violence or fear in your relationship. Couples work is not safe when one person cannot speak freely. I will help you find the right support.
• An affair is still going on. That work cannot start until it is over. Not a judgment, it just will not work.
• Addiction is currently running the relationship. That usually needs its own care first, and I can point you toward it.
• You are looking for a therapist who takes insurance. I have a private pay practice.
Where and when couples sessions happen
In-person couples sessions are held at my Brownsville office, serving Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, Los Fresnos, and the wider Rio Grande Valley. Couples from McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, and Weslaco travel to Brownsville for these sessions all the time.
Couples can do therapy with me in person or virtually.
Couples sessions run midday on Tuesday or Wednesday, and at 4:30 or 5:30 on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Most couples take 4:30 or 5:30pm, because two people with jobs should not have to take a whole afternoon off to do this. I do not schedule couples on Fridays or Saturdays. Couples work asks a lot of all three of us, and I do it inside a week I can protect. You get a better session for it.
Couples sessions are held at Keely Rodriguez Therapy, 1623 Central Blvd, 2nd Floor, Suite 1, Brownsville, TX 78520. (956) 275-3232.
The Relationship Roadmap
Most couples walk in braced for a stranger to referee the fight. That is not how this starts.
You get three sessions before either of you commits to ongoing therapy. By the end of them you will know what is actually driving the cycle, whether it can move, and what it would take. Then you decide.
Before the First Session
You each complete the Gottman Relationship Checkup, separately and privately. It is thorough. I read both before you are in the room, so neither of you spends the first hour explaining your relationship from scratch.
1
The Pattern Session
We slow the fight down until all three of us can see the shape of it. Who reaches, who retreats, how fast it goes, where it always ends up. Not who started it.
$275
75 Minute Session
2
What You Brought With You
We talk individually about your family. What you learned about love long before this relationship. What you actually want out of this. Some of that is easier to say without your partner in the room.
$275
75 Minute Session
(35 minutes per partner)
3
Roadmap Couple Session
I tell you what I see. What I think is driving the pattern, what the work would look like, how often we would meet, and roughly how long. You get an honest clinical opinion, including if I think you do not need much, or that something else has to be handled first.
$200
50 Minute Session
After the Relationship Roadmap, what’s next?
Most couples meet weekly for the first four sessions, because that is where the momentum comes from. Some move to every other week after that. It works, it just takes longer.
Ongoing sessions are 50 minutes at $200. When there has been a betrayal, or when something bigger is running the show, I will recommend 75. That is my call to make at the Roadmap, not a box for you to check.
Extended Sessions
Some of this work does not fit in 50 minutes. When there has been a betrayal, or when something older is driving the pattern, 50 minutes is enough to open it and not enough to put it back down before you walk out to your car. Those couples get 75 minutes. I will tell you at the Roadmap if you are one of them.
$300
75 Minute Session
Why Private Pay for Couples Counseling
Insurance requires a therapist to diagnose one of you with a mental health condition in order to cover the work. Relationship distress is not that, and I am not willing to label one of you to make the billing work. Paying directly also means what we do, and how long we do it, stays between the three of us.
Also insurance companies are often unwilling to cover couples therapy and marriage counseling at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you offer couples therapy in Brownsville?
Yes. I see couples in person at my Brownsville office at 1623 Central Blvd, 2nd Floor, Suite 1, serving Brownsville, Harlingen, San Benito, Los Fresnos, and the wider Rio Grande Valley. If you are elsewhere in Texas, we meet online.
How much does couples therapy cost?
The first session, The Pattern, is $275 for 75 minutes and includes the Gottman Relationship Checkup for both partners. The second session, What You Brought With You, is $275 for 75 minutes total, 35 minutes with each partner. The third session, The Roadmap, is $200 for 50 minutes. Ongoing couples sessions are $200 for 50 minutes. Extended 75-minute sessions are $300 when I recommend them. Payment is per session, with no packages.
How long are couples therapy sessions?
Ongoing couples sessions are 50 minutes. The first two sessions of the Relationship Roadmap are 75 minutes each, and the third is 50 minutes. When there has been a betrayal, or when something older is running underneath the fight, I will recommend 75-minute ongoing sessions instead. That is my recommendation to make, not a length you pick.
What is Emotionally Focused Therapy?
Emotionally Focused Therapy, or EFT, is an approach to couples work built on attachment science. Rather than teaching communication techniques, it targets the negative cycle a couple falls into and the unmet needs underneath it.
How is Emotionally Focused Therapy different from other couples counseling?
Most couples counseling is skills based. You learn communication formats, repair phrases, and tools for fighting fair, which works well for couples who are basically steady and need better technique. Emotionally Focused Therapy works on the cycle underneath the conflict instead, using attachment science to address what happens between two people before either one speaks. If previous couples work helped in the office but faded within days, the tools were usually fine and the cycle had not changed.
We tried couples counseling before and it did not help. Would this be different?
Often, yes, though I will not promise it. The most common reason couples work stalls is that it stayed at the level of communication technique while the pattern underneath kept running. I work on the pattern itself, and I am a trauma specialist, so if one partner's history is driving part of the cycle I can work with that directly rather than around it. The free consult is where we figure out whether this is a fit.
Do you offer couples therapy online?
Yes. Couples therapy is available online anywhere in Texas, with the same session lengths and the same rates as in person. Both partners need to be physically located in Texas at the time of each session. If you would rather meet in person, we do that at my Brownsville office.
Do you take insurance for couples therapy?
No. Couples therapy is private pay only. Insurance requires a mental health diagnosis attached to one partner, and relationship distress is not a billable diagnosis.
What happens in the first three couples sessions?
Every couple starts with the Relationship Roadmap, which is three sessions. Before the first one, you each complete the Gottman Relationship Checkup separately and privately, and I read both before you are in the room. Session one, The Pattern, is 75 minutes with both of you. Session two, What You Brought With You, is 35 minutes with each of you separately. Session three, The Roadmap, is 50 minutes with both of you, and it is where I tell you what I see, what I think is driving the pattern, and what the work would look like.
How often do couples meet for therapy?
I recommend weekly sessions to start, the first four especially, because that is where the momentum comes from. Some couples move to every other week after that. It works, but does take longer.
Do you work with couples after an affair?
Yes, once the affair has ended. Betrayal recovery is part of my practice and builds on my work as a trauma specialist. If an affair is still going on, couples work cannot start until it is over.
When are couples appointments available?
Couples sessions are scheduled midday on Tuesday or Wednesday, and at 4:30 or 5:30 on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Not every time is open every day. There are no couples sessions on Fridays or Saturdays.
Do you offer couples therapy after work?
Yes. Couples sessions are available at 4:30 and 5:30, Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Two people with jobs should not have to take a whole afternoon off to do this work.
If you read the top of this page and thought that is us, that is usually a good sign. It means the pattern is nameable, and nameable patterns can change.
The consult is fifteen minutes, it is free, and it is not therapy. It is a conversation about whether this is a fit. Either of you can be on the call, or both.
