The Couples Center

Founder of The Couples Center, Gal Szekely is a teacher and a colleague of mine. He taught me first at the Hakomi Method training (this is a powerful and very effective body-​mind psychology method) and he made an excellent immediate impression on me. I then felt so thrilled to find out that he was teaching a couples’ therapy class at my school, the California Institute of Integral Studies. I took that course with him and was even more impressed with his teaching style, his excellent therapeutic skills and knowledge, and his practical ways to deepen and train therapists to work with couples.
Gal is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to couples’ therapy. He was able to incorporate and weave together a wide variety of couples’ therapy approaches and models into a one coherent, powerful and extremely effective therapeutic work model.
Gal brings the same level of professionalism to The Couples Center. It’s not easy to find therapists that are experts in relationship and couples counseling and that makes The Couples Center a really valuable resources for couples. I would highly recommend contacting them if you need some support in your relationship.

Gal and Liron bring focus, passion, and creativity to their work with couples. As a couple themselves, they offer genuine awareness and compassion for relationship challenges, and the couples counselors involved with The Couples Center are equally strong and committed. They also offer a range of fun, educational events (from date nights to weekend couples workshops) that inspire deeper connection. Check them out!

After hearing Gal speak we decided to see him privately. We weren’t in crisis but both felt we could benefit from learning better communication skills and understanding what the other person meant or felt. What an amazing difference it has made. Couples don’t even realize the toxicity of their communication/​behavior patterns. Gal gets to the crux of things, he draws what he needs out of you to help you and your partner be stronger and more loving to each other. I can’t thank him enough. People often have a stigma attached to therapy or they think it’s so expensive. Give up something, a dinner out, your daily $ 5 latte and invest in your relationship! Divorce/​breaking up is really expensive!

Writing this review was important to me, which is why I tried writing it a few times in my head before I just let myself start typing. My partner and I met and started working with Gal nine months ago. I chose to work with Gal as I believed he was similar in background and culture to my partner. I remember walking into the conference room of my office during our initial phone call and trying to communicate that I felt like we needed urgent help. Gal did a great job of explaining to me that change does not happen immediately but that he would be happy to help us through pre-​marital counseling.
I am writing this review for a number of reasons, most important of which is if we had not met Gal and The Couple’s Center, there is a large likelihood that we would not be engaged today. It was a challenging process where I was forced to let in the possibility that therapy would not end in a happy outcome. I always feel that Gal is fair and objective while still understanding how tied up we are in our emotions.
Throughout the entire experience (and I say this as someone who is still an active client) Gal was professional, empathetic, articulate and direct with his advice and leading our communication.
After seeing us work with a therapist, a number of our friends became curious and started asking questions about couples therapy. What made this especially profound is that these couples were ones that we never imagined would need or want therapy.
Thanks to Gal and the time he spent with us I think that we will have a better and stronger relationship. I also feel like we can come to him whenever we need about a small issue or a large problem. I am very thankful we met him.

The Couples Center is a great place to get couple’s therapy and marriage counseling.
The therapists at The Couples Center are some of the best couples therapists in Berkeley and Oakland.
They also offer really special Premarital Counseling, that can help couples be better prepared to marriage life.
So, whether you are interested in premarital help, couples counseling, marriage therapy or simply working on your relationship issues — call them. Your partner would be grateful!

My partner and I wanted a venue to find ways to deepen our already strong communication, love and intimacy. So we googled around and found out about the Couple Center’s workshop. We went into the Couple Center’s workshop not knowing what to expect and were very pleased with the workshop activities that were in place to help illustrate their take-​home messages. I think every couple was at the workshop for their own reasons — yet the activities allowed each to obtain the answers and and help that each needed. As a gay couple, we were strongly welcomed and supported by Gal and Liron (the couple that runs the workshop) and the supporting therapists (who provided us some of the insight that made the workshop most worth it). We strongly encourage you to give the workshop and their counseling sessions a try… it will only strengthen your relationship.

The couples center is a great place to go for therapy. I know some of the psychotherapist that work for them and they are very knowledgable and have an in-​depth understanding of relationships, which informs all of their work with couples.
Gal and Liron who run the couples center and offer great workshops and date night events for all couples are great facilitators and are very insightful about couples work.
I highly recommend the couples center.

As someone who has watched Gal and Liron launch and grow the Couples Center, I’m excited to see that they have a presence in the East Bay. I know the Couples Center has helped hundreds of couples get their relationship back on track, and learn relationship skills to keep it on track. I’m excited to see the center expand to offer workshops and activities that not only build skills but also a community of conscious couples. I’ve attended several of their events and I’ve always come away a little bit wiser and with more tools to use in my marriage. I definitely recommend the Couples Center for anyone looking to improve their relationship.

My fiancé and I spoke with Gal and he had so much valuable information that has help our relationship grow even more. Not only does Gal give great advice, but the Couples Center has sooo many resources. We love the articles and blogs available. So helpful for any relationship! I definitely recommend Gal and the Couples Center.

As a career coach I work with people who lead busy lives and their relationships often suffer from the pressure of work. I can certainly say the same for myself:) I’ve learned that a relationship takes work just like careers take work. Couples counseling is a great way to work on your relationship and the Couples Center is a great place to go to learn the right relationship skills. I can’t think of a couple that wouldn’t benefit from seeing one of the therapists at the Couples Center.
The Couples Center is my go to resource when I need to refer a client to a couples therapist for marriage or relationship counseling. The therapists who work there specialize in relationship counseling and were selected by Gal Szekely for their experience and skill. The clients I’ve sent there all thank me and say that the sessions were helpful and they were able to make significant changes in a short time. I’m also impressed by the amount of valuable free information they have on their website and the talks and events they offer to couples.