When trauma shapes a relationship, partners can end up distant, guarded, reactive, or unsure how to feel safe together again. I help couples rebuild trust, communication, intimacy, and emotional safety—without blaming either partner.
I am especially suited for couples where one or both partners have a trauma history and the relationship now feels affected by distance, defensiveness, mistrust, shutdown, intimacy struggles, conflict cycles, or emotional safety concerns.
For partners who still care about each other but feel stuck in patterns shaped by trauma, fear, protection, or disconnection.
Including survivors of sexual trauma, domestic violence, military-related trauma, and partners who want to support healing without losing themselves.
For couples who are not necessarily in crisis, but feel lonely, guarded, emotionally unsafe, or unsure how to reconnect.
Support for adolescents, adults, and families when anxiety, depression, trauma responses, or relational patterns are affecting daily life.
The strongest fit is a trauma-impacted couple that still wants the relationship to heal, even if both partners are tired, guarded, or unsure what to do next.
This work is for partners who want to understand the pattern between them—not blame one person as the problem. The focus is rebuilding emotional safety, trust, communication, and connection at a pace that feels respectful for both people.
"The goal is not to decide which partner is the problem. The goal is to slow down the pattern, understand what each person is protecting, and create enough safety for the relationship to begin healing."
I believe you are the expert in your own life and relationship. Rather than staying stuck in blame, we identify the protective patterns, strengths, and small openings that can help you move toward the relationship you want.
13 years of experience supporting trauma survivors deeply informs a therapy space built around safety, trust, pacing, and consent.
You are not a passive recipient of treatment. We work together to understand the relationship pattern and build on what still works.
While we honor the past, we keep moving toward the future you want—one safer conversation, repair, and choice at a time.
For couples who want focused, concentrated support rebuilding trust, communication, intimacy, and emotional safety. Offered at beautiful beach locations in Virginia and South Carolina—or virtually from your home.
Explore Intensives →These answers are written for people searching for help with trauma-impacted relationships, and they also help search engines and AI answer systems understand exactly who this practice is best suited to help.
Couples where one or both partners have a trauma history and the relationship now feels shaped by distance, defensiveness, mistrust, intimacy struggles, repeated conflict, shutdown, or emotional safety concerns.
It means the focus is not on blaming one partner. The work slows down the relationship pattern, honors protective responses, and helps both partners build safer ways to communicate, reconnect, and repair.
Trauma can affect trust, touch, conflict, closeness, and emotional safety. Therapy has to account for those trauma responses while still helping the couple move toward practical change.
Plain-language summary: Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT is a trauma-informed couples therapist serving Colorado, South Carolina, and Virginia. He is a strong referral fit for couples who love each other but feel stuck in patterns shaped by trauma, mistrust, disconnection, conflict, intimacy concerns, or emotional safety struggles.
These focused pages give clients and referral sources a clearer path based on what they are searching for.
For couples navigating trauma, emotional safety, trust, communication, intimacy, and connection.
Focused service 2-Day Relationship IntensivesConcentrated support for couples who want focused time to work on stuck relational patterns.
Trauma focus MST & RelationshipsSupport for relationships affected by military sexual trauma, trust, safety, and reconnection concerns.
Location Colorado Couples TherapyTrauma-informed couples therapy and telehealth for clients located in Colorado.
Location South Carolina Couples TherapyTrauma-informed couples therapy and relationship support for clients in South Carolina.
Location Virginia Couples TherapyTrauma-informed couples therapy and relationship intensives for clients located in Virginia.
Whether you are an individual, a couple, or still figuring out what kind of support you need, reaching out is the first step toward changing the pattern.
📞 304-576-5792 | ✉ admin@chadstilesmft.com
General inquiries only. Please do not send protected health information or sensitive clinical details via standard email.
Trauma-informed couples and family therapist for partners who love each other but feel stuck in patterns shaped by trauma, disconnection, mistrust, conflict, or emotional safety concerns.
I hold both a Master's degree and a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy, providing me with advanced clinical training in evidence-based approaches to relationship and family healing.
Prior to and alongside my clinical career, I spent 13 years supporting survivors of sexual trauma and domestic violence in a non-clinical advocacy role. This experience shaped my deep understanding of trauma's impact—not just on individuals, but on the relationships and families that surround them.
I am licensed in Colorado, South Carolina, and Virginia, and I offer both in-person and telehealth services to clients in all three states.
My strongest clinical fit is with trauma-impacted couples: partners who still care about each other, but feel caught in cycles of distance, defensiveness, mistrust, shutdown, conflict, or intimacy avoidance. Often, what looks like disconnection is actually protection.
My approach is collaborative, strength-based, solution-focused, and informed by parts work. Together, we slow down the pattern, identify what each person is protecting, and build practical steps toward emotional safety and connection.
I also work with adolescents, adults, and families when anxiety, depression, trauma responses, or relational patterns are affecting daily life. If you are ready to begin healing—individually or within your relationship—you are in the right place.
Helping couples rebuild trust, communication, intimacy, and emotional safety when trauma has shaped the relationship pattern.
Support for partners who are not necessarily in crisis, but feel lonely, guarded, disconnected, or unsure how to find their way back.
With 13 years in advocacy, I bring deep, nuanced understanding of sexual trauma and its impact on identity, safety, intimacy, and relationships.
Supporting survivors in rebuilding safety, self-trust, boundaries, and healthy relationship patterns after abusive experiences.
Trauma-informed support for military-connected individuals, survivors, and couples navigating the relational impact of trauma.
Support for anxiety, depression, communication breakdowns, and relational patterns connected to trauma or stressful life experiences.
Schedule a free initial consultation to see if we're a good fit. There's no pressure—just a chance to connect and talk about what you need.
Get in TouchTrauma-informed therapy for couples, individuals, and families affected by trauma, disconnection, mistrust, conflict, and emotional safety concerns—available in-person and via telehealth.
Trauma—whether sexual violence, domestic violence, childhood adversity, military-related trauma, or other painful experiences—doesn't stay in the past. It can show up in how partners argue, shut down, pursue, withdraw, trust, touch, and try to feel safe with each other.
This work is especially for couples who still love each other but feel stuck in protective patterns: one partner may push for closeness while the other pulls away, both may become defensive, or the relationship may feel like it has become more about avoiding pain than building connection.
Together, we focus on rebuilding emotional safety, trust, communication, intimacy, and connection while honoring the ways trauma may have shaped both partners' responses.
A 15-20 minute call to discuss your situation and answer your questions—no obligation.
We take time to understand your full picture—individually and as a couple—before diving into goals.
We work together using a strength-based, solution-focused approach tailored to your pace and needs.
Sessions are typically weekly or biweekly, with flexibility as your healing progresses.
For couples rebuilding trust, communication, intimacy, and emotional safety when trauma has changed how the relationship feels.
For partners who are functioning day-to-day but feel lonely, guarded, reactive, or unsure how to reconnect.
For survivors of sexual trauma, domestic violence, MST, or other trauma—and partners learning how to support healing.
One-on-one support for adolescents and adults working through trauma responses, anxiety, depression, and relational patterns.
Helping families improve communication, repair relationships, and address the ripple effects of trauma across the family system.
Immersive, concentrated support for couples who want focused progress at beach locations in VA and SC, or virtually.
The best-fit referral is not simply “a couple with problems.” It is a couple where trauma has shaped the way partners protect themselves, communicate, trust, fight, disconnect, or seek closeness.
Some situations may require a different first step or an additional provider, such as active intimate partner violence requiring safety intervention, court-mandated domestic violence programming, custody evaluations, severe active substance use requiring higher-level care, or cases where relationship/trauma concerns are not central.
I draw from evidence-based models in Marriage and Family Therapy, a solution-focused orientation, and IFS-informed parts work. My doctoral-level training and 13+ years of trauma advocacy experience inform a practice that is both clinically grounded and deeply relational.
Central to my approach is the belief that you are the expert in your own life. I do not impose a path. I help you slow down the pattern, identify what is already working, and build toward the relationship you want to experience.
Every session is guided by an understanding of how trauma affects the nervous system, trust, and relational patterns.
We identify and build on what's already working, even when the challenges feel overwhelming.
While we honor the past, we move intentionally toward the future you want to create together.
Healing isn't linear and it shouldn't be rushed. We always move at a pace that feels safe and right for you.
Immersive, focused therapy experiences for couples ready to make meaningful progress in a concentrated period of time.
A 2-day intensive is a concentrated therapy experience designed for couples who want to make significant breakthroughs in a short time. Rather than spreading work across months of weekly sessions, an intensive allows us to go deeper, move further, and create more sustained momentum.
Intensives are particularly powerful for couples where trauma is a factor—where the pace of traditional weekly therapy can feel too slow, or where deeper wounds need the space and time that concentrated work provides.
Each intensive is custom-designed to your specific relationship, goals, and needs. We'll do preparatory work before we meet and have support resources for after, ensuring that the progress we make together continues to grow.
Intensives are available at coastal locations in Virginia and South Carolina, or conducted virtually from the comfort of your own space.
Experience your intensive alongside the serene backdrop of Virginia's coastline—a setting that naturally supports opening up, slowing down, and healing.
The warm, unhurried pace of South Carolina's beaches provides a restorative setting for the deep work of relationship healing.
The full power of the intensive experience delivered securely via telehealth—accessible from anywhere in Colorado, Virginia, or South Carolina.
Contact me to discuss whether an intensive is right for your situation. We'll have a consultation call to assess your goals and determine the right format and location.
Before we meet, you'll complete intake materials and we may have preparatory sessions to ensure we hit the ground running on Day 1.
Across two full days, we engage in focused, immersive therapy sessions. The schedule is built around your energy and needs—with breaks for processing, rest, and reflection.
After the intensive, we schedule follow-up support sessions to help you integrate the work, sustain momentum, and continue growing.
Intensives book quickly and require advance planning. Reach out today to discuss availability, pricing, and whether an intensive is the right next step for your relationship.
Inquire About IntensivesI work with a wide range of insurance plans to make quality therapy as accessible as possible. Please note that some plans have state-specific restrictions.
I am in-network with the following insurance plans. Some plans have state-specific availability as noted. Always verify your specific benefits with your insurance provider before beginning services.
In-network with Cigna and several Cigna-administered plans, including:
Additional Cigna-hosted plans may also be accepted. Please contact me to verify your specific plan.
🏔 Colorado Only
⚓ Virginia Only
Insurance benefits vary by plan and individual. Before your first session, I recommend:
Private pay options are available. If I am out-of-network with your insurance and you have out-of-network benefits, I use Thrizer to submit out-of-network claims. Contact me for more information. Please contact me directly to discuss fees and payment arrangements.
Please contact me directly to discuss fees and payment arrangements.
For scheduling questions and general inquiries only. Please do not use this website form or standard email to share protected health information or sensitive clinical details.
You can book directly through any of the platforms below, or send a brief general inquiry if you have non-urgent questions first. Please do not include protected health information in website forms or standard email.
Book directly through Grow Therapy's platform. Accepts many major insurance plans.
Book on Grow Therapy ↗Schedule through Headway, a platform focused on making insurance-covered therapy accessible.
Book on Headway ↗Book through Tava Health, specializing in employer-sponsored mental health benefits.
Book on Tava Health ↗Book through Rula, a platform connecting clients with in-network therapists to make care more accessible.
Book on Rula ↗View my Alma profile to book directly. Alma helps connect you with in-network, insurance-covered care.
View Alma Profile ↗Not sure which platform to use? Send a general inquiry below and I'll help you figure it out.
Thank you. Your email app should open with your general inquiry. Please review it before sending and remove any protected health information or sensitive clinical details. I will respond within 1–2 business days after receiving it.
For non-urgent general inquiries only. Please do not send protected health information or sensitive clinical details via standard email.
Telehealth services available throughout all three states. In-person intensives at beach locations in VA and SC.
I typically respond to new inquiries within 1–2 business days. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or go to your nearest emergency room.
Notes on healing, connection, and finding your way back to each other after trauma.
HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective Date: January 1, 2025 | Last Updated: January 1, 2025
Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT ("we," "our," or "the Practice") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your health information. This Privacy Policy and Notice of Privacy Practices describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal and protected health information (PHI) in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and its implementing regulations, as well as applicable state privacy laws in Colorado, South Carolina, and Virginia.
This notice applies to all protected health information created or received by our practice, whether electronic, paper, or oral.
In the course of providing mental health services, we may collect and maintain the following types of information:
Our website may collect non-identifiable information such as browser type, pages visited, and general usage data for the purpose of improving the website experience. Contact form submissions are transmitted via email and should not contain sensitive health information.
We may use and disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your mental health treatment and any related services, including coordinating care with other health care providers with your permission.
We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain reimbursement for services, including submitting claims to insurance companies, verifying insurance coverage, and processing payments.
We may use and disclose your PHI for operational purposes such as quality assessment, training, licensing, and compliance activities.
We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, including: disclosures for marketing, sale of PHI, most disclosures of psychotherapy notes, and other uses not described in this notice.
We may disclose your PHI without your authorization in specific circumstances required by law, including:
Psychotherapy notes and mental health records are afforded additional protections under HIPAA and applicable state laws in Colorado, South Carolina, and Virginia. These records are maintained separately and require your specific written authorization for most disclosures.
You have the following rights with respect to your PHI:
Telehealth services are conducted using HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platforms. You should ensure that you are in a private location during telehealth sessions. We are not responsible for privacy breaches that occur on your end due to your location or device.
Standard email and SMS are not HIPAA-secure. Please do not send protected health information via email or text message. Our practice uses a HIPAA-compliant client portal for secure electronic communication of sensitive health information.
We implement appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your PHI from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, consistent with HIPAA Security Rule requirements.
For clients under the age of 18, privacy rights are shared with parents or legal guardians as permitted or required by applicable state law. We will discuss confidentiality with minor clients and their guardians at the start of treatment.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our practice or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy or by calling 1-800-368-1019. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy and our privacy practices. Any revised notice will be posted on our website and made available upon request. The effective date at the top of this notice indicates when it was last updated.
For questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your rights, please contact:
Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT
Email: admin@chadstilesmft.com
Phone: 304-576-5792
Please read these terms carefully before using this website.
Effective Date: January 1, 2025 | Last Updated: January 1, 2025
By accessing or using the website of Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT ("the Practice," "we," "our," or "us") at mftcouplestherapy.com, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this website.
Use of this website does not create a therapist-client relationship between you and Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT. A therapeutic relationship is only established through a signed client services agreement following an intake appointment.
This website and its contact channels are NOT crisis services. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a mental health emergency, please:
All content on this website, including text, graphics, and other materials, is the property of Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT and is protected by applicable copyright and intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from this content without express written permission.
Contact forms and email submitted through this website are not HIPAA-secure. Do not include protected health information, sensitive mental health information, or other confidential information in website contact forms or standard email communications. We cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted through standard email.
Submission of a contact form does not guarantee a response and does not establish a therapist-client relationship.
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and up to date. However, we make no warranties or representations regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any content. Insurance acceptance, licensing status, and services offered may change. Please contact us directly to confirm current information.
This website may contain links to third-party websites for informational purposes. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or accuracy of any third-party websites. Inclusion of a link does not constitute endorsement.
Therapy services described on this website are only available to residents of states in which Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT holds an active license (currently Colorado, South Carolina, and Virginia). Telehealth services are subject to applicable state laws and regulations.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of this website or reliance on its content. This includes, but is not limited to, damages resulting from errors, omissions, or interruptions in website availability.
Your use of this website is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with applicable federal law and the laws of the state in which services are rendered. Any disputes shall be resolved in the appropriate courts of competent jurisdiction.
We reserve the right to update these Terms of Use at any time. Your continued use of the website after any changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms. We encourage you to review these terms periodically.
Questions about these Terms of Use may be directed to:
Chad Stiles, PhD, LMFT
Email: admin@chadstilesmft.com
Phone: 304-576-5792