MendMend — Couples & Family Therapy
69%
of relationship conflicts are never resolved — only managed.
6 yrs
The average couple waits six years before seeking help.
3
sessions. Families in therapy report feeling genuinely heard within three sessions.
How it works
You Reach Out
Everything you share stays here.
There is no intake questionnaire that feels like a court document. There is no judgment about how long you waited, what you've tried, or how messy things have gotten. You write a few lines, or a few sentences, or nothing at all — and we take it from there.
All communications are confidential. We are bound by the same ethical guidelines as any licensed therapist — your story belongs to you.
Licensed therapists with 10+ years in relational work
HIPAA-compliant — what you say stays between you and your therapist
In-person sessions in Portland, OR — telehealth available everywhere
We Listen
Duration
75 minutes for your first session — no clock-watching. We build in extra time intentionally.
Format
Couples and families come together. Individual sessions are available when that feels right. You decide.
What to expect
We ask questions more than we give answers. You won't leave with homework or a diagnosis. You'll leave with a sense of having been heard, perhaps for the first time in a long time.
Session fee
$185 per session. Sliding scale available — please ask.
"I'm not here to tell you what's broken. I'm here to help you hear each other again — which is harder than it sounds, and more possible than it feels right now."
Dr. Elena Marsh, LMFT
Lead Therapist, Mend
Patterns Surface
Most of the time, it isn't really about the dishes, or the silence at dinner, or the door that stays shut. These are the shapes that recurring conflict tends to take.
Pursue–withdraw. Distance–protest. These loops have names — and exits.
You're not broken. You're in a pattern.
The pursue–withdraw loop is the most common dynamic in couples in conflict. One person reaches — for reassurance, for connection, for an answer. The other steps back — not from cruelty, but from overwhelm. The reaching intensifies. The stepping back deepens. Both people feel alone.
For families, the pattern often looks like one person carrying the weight of everyone's unsaid things. A teenager who disappears. A parent who keeps the peace by saying nothing. A sibling who left and hasn't really come back.
These are not character flaws. They are learned responses to real pain. And they can change.
Who we work with
Couples on the edge of separation
Parents and teenagers in disconnect
Families fractured by loss or change
People navigating a secret that surfaced
Things Shift
Not all at once. Not dramatically. But the knot in your chest loosens by one thread, and then another. Here's what clients typically report after working with us.
We came in as two people who had stopped being able to talk. We didn't leave fixed — but we left knowing there was a path. That was enough to keep going.
Sarah & Ryan
Together 9 years · Portland, OR
"My daughter and I hadn't had a real conversation in two years. After three sessions, she looked at me and said 'I didn't know you felt that way.' That was the whole thing, right there."
Diane M.
Parent · Family sessions