Attachment & Relationships
Couples, family and individual work on the patterns that shape close relationships.
Relationship difficulty is rarely about the argument you're having. It's about the pattern the argument sits inside — pursue and withdraw, criticism and defence, closeness and distance — and the attachment history each person brings to it.
We offer couples and family sessions with our systemic psychotherapist, and individual work for people wanting to understand their own relational patterns. Sessions are structured so both people are heard and neither leaves feeling ganged up on.
Rebecca Staub is a qualified Family / Systemic Psychotherapist and works with couples, parents and whole families.
What to expect
The first session hears both people separately within the same appointment, so neither leaves feeling ganged up on. We then identify the pattern the arguments sit inside rather than adjudicating the last one, and agree explicit rules for how difficult topics get raised.
How many sessions will I need?
We agree the likely number of sessions with you at the first appointment. Medicare rebates do not apply to relationship sessions, so there is no ten-session structure to work within. Progress depends on both people attending consistently, which matters more here than in individual therapy.
Evidence base
Source: psychology.org.au
Sessions draw on systems theory, attachment theory and narrative therapy, and are delivered by a qualified Family and Systemic Psychotherapist.
How we work with this
The shape of treatment, step by step — adjusted to what you bring and the pace you set.
Work with the system
Systems theory and narrative therapy look at the pattern between people rather than locating the problem in one person.
Understand attachment
How each person learned to seek or avoid closeness — and why that clashes in predictable ways.
A genuinely safe space
Sessions are structured so difficult topics can be raised without escalation, with clear agreements about how you speak to each other.
Questions about Attachment & Relationships
Do Medicare rebates apply to couples therapy?
No. Medicare does not fund relationship sessions. Private health insurance extras cover may apply instead, and no referral is required to claim from private health insurance.
What if my partner will not come?
Individual work on your own relational patterns is available and does shift the dynamic, because patterns between two people change when one participant changes. Joint sessions remain the option if they later agree.
Will you take sides?
No. Sessions are structured so both people are heard, and the work locates the problem in the pattern between you rather than in one person.
Can we bring the children?
Yes. Rebecca Staub works with whole families, parents alone, and couples, including separation, blended families and co-parenting arrangements.
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Book with Rebecca
Sessions run 50 minutes, in our Melbourne CBD rooms or by secure video. No referral needed to begin.