About Couples Counseling Associates

Couples Counseling Associates is one of the few professional counseling practices in Chicago that exclusively specializes in couples, marriages, and relationships. Founded by Dr. Sara Schwarzbaum in 2008, Couples Counseling Associates works with individuals who want to improve their relationship regardless of age, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Each therapist listed on this website is independently licensed, practices independently of Couples Counseling Associates. They are using this website for marketing purposes.

Couples Counseling Associates^SM  is a service mark and a registered Assumed Business Name of Dr. Sara Schwarzbaum, Ed.D, LMFT, LCPC

Eighty percent of therapists in private practice work with couples, but only 12 percent of therapists have training specific to working with distressed couples. We fall in that 12 percent.

We root our work in specialized relationship training and the latest research findings about what makes a successful relationship. Each therapist at Couples Counseling Associates shares the same philosophy about how to serve individuals and couples in relationship distress and each specializes in couples and relationships.

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Learn more about how to find the best-qualified couples counselor.

Ed.D, LMFT, LCPC
Founder

I believe that couples have few road maps to help them navigate their lives successfully in today’s complex relationship world.

I want to give couples the tools they need to improve the way they talk to each other about difficult issues. My approach is direct, focused on problem solving, active, and collaborative. I have experience helping couples learn new ways to communicate, reduce the number of fights, and facilitate re-connection. I also coach people to decrease negative interactions and increase sexual intimacy.

I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I studied clinical psychology and marriage and family therapy prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 1982. I continued my training as a marriage and family therapist here with leaders in the field and have continued this work for the past 25 years.

After I finished my doctoral degree at Northern Illinois University in 1995, I became a Professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. I was the Coordinate of the Master’s Program in Couple and Family Counseling, where I trained the next generation of couple and family counselors. I retired from that position in August, 2016.

I have authored numerous articles and two books. My writing has appeared in the Psychotherapy Networker, Counseling Today, and the Journal of Multicultural Counseling, among other publications. (And I regularly contribute articles about love, relationships, marriage and more here on our blog).

I speak at couples counseling workshops for social service agencies and professional organizations and run supervision groups for therapists who work with couples. Media outlets frequently seek my input about couples distress and improvement strategies for couples.

I founded Couples Counseling Associates in 2008 in response to the growing need for specialized relationship counseling services in the Chicago area.

I’m also the founder of The Academy for Couples Therapists, a membership-based course that helps couples therapists do their best work.