Couples Therapy and Marriage Counseling for Torrance
For Torrance couples who keep having the same fight, 15 minutes up PCH in Hermosa Beach or by video anywhere in California.
Serving Torrance and the South Bay. In person in Hermosa Beach and virtual sessions available throughout California.
Marriage Counseling for Torrance Couples
Lisa Chen & Associates provides couples therapy and marriage counseling for Torrance couples from our office in Hermosa Beach, about 15 minutes up Pacific Coast Highway from Old Torrance and 20 from South Torrance and the Del Amo area, and by video anywhere in California. Our therapists are trained in the Gottman Method, Intimacy From the Inside Out and EMDR, and we work with couples who want more than communication tips: the ones who keep having the same fight, who have gone quiet on each other, or who are deciding whether to stay. Sessions are weekly or in a one or two day intensive. Start with a free 20-minute consultation.
How We Work
We do not referee. In the first two sessions we map the cycle the two of you fall into, name what each of you is protecting when it starts, and agree on what you want to be different in ninety days. From there the work combines three approaches. The Gottman Method gives you the research-backed skills: how to raise a hard topic without it blowing up, how to repair after it does, how to rebuild the friendship underneath. Intimacy From the Inside Out, the couples form of Internal Family Systems, works with the part of each of you that takes over in conflict, so the skills are usable when it counts. When one partner's history keeps landing in the present, EMDR in individual sessions clears what the couples work keeps tripping over.
Who We See From Torrance
Most of the Torrance couples we see are carrying a full life: a home to pay for, kids to raise, and either two demanding jobs or one income stretched to cover everything. What brings them in is rarely a single crisis. It is the slow loss of intimacy when one or both of you are stressed and there is no time left to reconnect, and the same fights about the household, the kids and work-life balance that never quite get resolved. We also see couples where one partner has pulled back and the other has started to chase, couples in the first years after a baby, and couples who moved to the South Bay for a job and have no one here but each other. If one of you needs support of your own first, see individual therapy for Torrance parents and professionals.
Most couples meet weekly for 50 minutes, often in the evening or on a Sunday, and some choose 90-minute sessions. If you are working against a date, such as a wedding, a decision about separating or a move, or you want to cover in a weekend what would take three months of weekly sessions, a couples intensive runs a full day or two consecutive days and includes a plan to take home.
Insurance and fees
We're out of network and provide monthly superbills you can submit to your insurance; many Torrance employers' PPO plans reimburse a portion. Check your out-of-network mental health benefits to see what yours covers. Couples sessions start at $200, and the 20-minute consultation is free. Fees, insurance and FAQs.
Weekly or Intensive
Our office is at 2615 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 326, Hermosa Beach, with parking and an elevator. From central Torrance it is a straight drive up PCH or Hawthorne Boulevard; many Torrance couples book the first or last session of the day to miss the worst of the traffic. Video sessions work well for couples work once we have met, and many of our Torrance clients alternate. Evening and Sunday hours are available.
In Person in Hermosa Beach, or Online
Frequently Asked Questions
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It depends on the approach and on when couples start. Couples who start before contempt has set in do best, which is why we would rather see you a year early than a year late.
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It is a popular way to size a problem: will this matter in five minutes, five months or five years? It helps couples skip fights that are not worth having. It does not help with the fights that keep coming back, because those are rarely about the topic. For those, you need to see the cycle underneath, which is what couples therapy is for.
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There is nothing you cannot say. What slows the work down is editing yourself to look reasonable, recruiting the therapist to your side, or saving the real issue for the last five minutes. A good couples therapist is on the side of the relationship, not either partner, and the sooner the actual problem is in the room, the sooner it changes.
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No. Our office is in Hermosa Beach, about 15 minutes from central Torrance, and we see Torrance couples there and by video across California.
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Yes. Many couples start with one partner more willing than the other. The consultation is a low-stakes way for the hesitant partner to meet the therapist and decide, and a single individual session is sometimes the better first step.
If you still have questions about whether couples therapy is the right next step, schedule a consultation to explore your options.
Begin Couples Therapy in Torrance
If you are ready to strengthen your relationship and create meaningful change, schedule a consultation to explore next steps.