Couples Therapy in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Change the pattern. Find your way back.
Couples therapy with Dr. Ehsan Adib Shabahang, a licensed mental health counselor in Cambridge. Private pay. Sessions by secure video across Massachusetts.
Book A Free ConsultationWhen the argument is not really the argument
You are not fighting about the dishes
Most couples who come here are not in crisis. They are tired.
The same argument keeps arriving in different clothes. One of you pushes for resolution, the other goes quiet, and both of you end up further from the thing you actually wanted to say. You have had the conversation about having the conversation.
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The same conflict on repeat, with a different surface subject each time.
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Distance that grew slowly enough that neither of you can name when it started.
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Rebuilding after a betrayal, or after a long stretch of one person carrying more.
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Two cultures, two families, two sets of expectations about what a partnership owes.
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Deciding whether to stay, honestly, with someone in the room who is not on either side.
If you are the one reading this at midnight while your partner sleeps, you are the person this page is for.
Relationship work
Couples Therapy
Couples work here is structured and active.
You are not paying for a referee, and you are not paying for two people to take turns venting for fifty minutes.
Sessions focus on the pattern rather than the incident. We slow down the sequence that keeps repeating, find the moment it turns, and build something you can actually run at home when the stakes are real and I am not in the room.
Intercultural and cross-cultural couples are a particular focus. When two people come from different cultural expectations about family, obligation, money, or privacy, the conflict is rarely about the surface disagreement. My doctoral research was in cross-cultural relationships.
Individual work
Individual Therapy
Individual work here is relational in focus.
Not because your problems are only about other people, but because most of what shapes how you handle conflict, closeness, and self-trust was learned inside relationships and gets rebuilt inside them.
This suits people working through anxiety, a recurring pattern in how relationships end, questions of identity and belonging across cultures, or a period where the way you have always coped has stopped working.
The same structure applies: sessions have a direction, and we track whether the work is moving.
About the therapist
Meet Dr. Ehsan Adib Shabahang
I am a licensed mental health counselor practicing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the founder of AtReef Therapy.
My background is unusual for this field. Before becoming a therapist I worked as a cultural advisor and diplomatic liaison, which meant spending years watching what happens when people who genuinely want to understand each other keep missing.
That question followed me into a doctorate in social psychology, where my research focused on cross-cultural relationships, and into this practice.
I work with a small, intentionally selective caseload. That is a deliberate constraint, not a marketing line. It means I hold fewer cases and think about each one between sessions.
Self-Reflective Relationship Therapy
How the work is done
Therapy here runs on a framework I developed called Self-Reflective Relationship Therapy, or SRRT. It integrates four established approaches: cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, the Gottman Method, and Jungian psychology.
The premise is that most relationship patterns run below the level of conscious choice. You are not deciding to shut down when your partner raises their voice. Something older than the argument is deciding for you. SRRT builds the capacity to notice that happening while it is happening, which is the point at which a pattern becomes changeable.
Structure
Sessions have structure
You will leave knowing what we worked on and what to watch for before the next one.
Pattern
We name the pattern, not the villain
Time spent establishing who was right is time not spent on what happens next.
Progress
We track whether it is working
If the work is not moving, we say so and change the approach.
How to start
A clear beginning, a defined direction, and regular review of whether the work is actually helping.
A free 30-minute consultation
A real conversation, not a sales call. You describe what is happening. I tell you honestly whether this is work I am well suited to do with you, and if it is not, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
A first full session
We map the pattern in detail and agree on what we are actually working toward, in language specific enough that you would notice if it changed.
Ongoing sessions
Weekly to start for most couples. We review progress openly rather than assuming it.
What to know before you book
- Format: secure video across Massachusetts
- Who I can see: clients located in Massachusetts
- Payment: private pay, not in network with insurance
- Superbills: available on request. Reimbursement depends on your plan.
- Fees: listed on the rates page
- Cancellations: 48 hours' notice
What changes when the work is right.
FAQs
Common questions
Do you take insurance? Private pay and out-of-network reimbursement
No. AtReef Therapy is a private-pay practice. I can provide a superbill if you want to pursue out-of-network reimbursement, and whether your plan reimburses is between you and your insurer. Current fees are on the rates page .
Where are you located, and do I have to come to Cambridge? Secure video across Massachusetts
The practice is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sessions are held by secure video, so you can be anywhere in Massachusetts.
Can you see us if we live outside Massachusetts? Location and licensing requirements
I can work with clients who are located in Massachusetts at the time of session. If you are elsewhere, tell me during the consultation and I will point you toward finding someone licensed where you are.
How long are sessions, and how often? Frequency is reviewed as the work develops
Most couples start weekly. Frequency is something we review together rather than fix in advance.
What is the free consultation actually for? A conversation about fit, without obligation
Fit. Couples therapy works considerably better when both people feel the therapist is someone they can be honest in front of. Thirty minutes is usually enough to know. There is no obligation and no charge.
Will you take sides? The focus is the pattern, not picking a winner
Not in the sense of deciding who is right and who is wrong. I will name behavior clearly, interrupt patterns that are causing harm, and challenge either of you when the work requires it. But the goal is not to build a case against one person. It is to understand what happens between you well enough that both of you can do something different.
That does not mean treating every behavior as equivalent. If something is unsafe or coercive, I will name that directly.