Quick Answer
Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Pasadena is depth-oriented, affirming care for partners, polycules, and chosen families. Sessions work with the attachment patterns, character-level defenses, and unmet developmental needs underneath the recurring conflict — not just the surface argument. Care is delivered in person at our Mid-Wilshire office or by secure telehealth across California, and begins with a free 20-minute consultation with no obligation.
Key Takeaways
- Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Pasadena is depth-oriented: it works beneath the recurring conflict to the underlying patterns.
- Affirming across relationship configurations — partners, polycules, throuples, chosen families — as a named specialty across the clinical team, not a disclaimer.
- Clinicians integrate EFT, IFS, depth psychology, and Orgonomic somatic work — matched to the specific relationship rather than defaulted to a single protocol.
- Delivered in person at our Mid-Wilshire office (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520) or by secure HIPAA-compliant telehealth across California.
- Care begins with a free, 20-minute consultation, with no obligation and no diagnosis required to start.
01 — OverviewWhen a long marriage carries distance rather than acute conflict
Long-marriage and adult-family work in Pasadena often surfaces after a generational transition — children leaving, parents aging, careers winding down — reshapes the partnership in ways the marriage didn’t have language for. The presenting concern is rarely a fight to resolve; it’s an accumulated pattern that needs to be traced back to where it started forming.
APG’s method: work the layer underneath the presenting concern until the pattern itself shifts. Sessions examine the attachment ruptures that predate the current stage, the roles each partner took on across decades, and the developmental needs that got sidelined by the shape the household required. The work is designed for durable change in a long-established pattern.
Character-level work. Character-level work addresses the enduring patterns of relating that formed in early development and now shape how a person shows up in intimate partnership — often below the level of what talk therapy alone can reach. Orgonomic (Reichian) work is one of the traditions from which this approach draws.
Research from the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that psychotherapy is effective for the range of relational and emotional difficulties couples and partners bring to therapy, and the American Psychological Association notes that the fit between client and clinician is one of the strongest predictors of outcomes. That is the reason matching — modality, clinician, format — is the first piece of clinical work at Angeles Psychology Group.
02 — ApproachSystemic family work alongside couples care
Sessions here operate from a modality set built specifically for depth-oriented relational work. For adult-family systems the couples work often can’t stay isolated to two people — the material extends into adult-child relationships, in-law dynamics, and multigenerational patterns. The framework holds that expansion inside one clinical container.
How the practice separates: coordination across group, individual, couples, and family work inside one clinical container. Individual therapy, couples work, and family sessions all run inside the same clinical team under doctoral supervision. A case that expands into adult family sessions stays with clinicians who already know the case, which keeps the work coherent rather than fragmenting. You can read more about the practice on our our depth-oriented relationship therapy page.
All configurations
Affirming care for monogamous, non-monogamous, queer, and chosen-family relationships alike.
Beneath the conflict
Depth-oriented work with the patterns and unmet needs underneath — not just the recurring argument.
Coordinated care
Individual, couples, and group work inside one practice, coordinated with consent.
Whatever you’re carrying, there’s a place to begin. Book a free, 20-minute consultation.
Start a free consultation03 — In PasadenaPasadena and the arc of an established family
Pasadena carries a specific household reality — established multigenerational families with adult children often nearby, family patterns that predate the marriage and shape how the partnership functions. Depth work in this catchment often reaches into those broader family dynamics because the material is genuinely located there, not confined to two people in a room.
Where in-person work happens: 6363 Wilshire, Suite 520. HIPAA-aligned secure video is the alternate format for weeks the trip isn’t workable. Pasadena households often mix formats — in-person for the deeper couples sessions, telehealth for adult family members joining from wherever they live. The clinician holding the case stays constant, which is what makes multigenerational work operationally viable.
04 — Getting startedStarting a longer arc of family-systems work
Beginning Marriage & Multigenerational Family Therapy usually starts from a place the couple already knows something they can’t quite name — the marriage isn’t in crisis, but the distance has been growing longer than either of you meant to let it. The first 20-minute consultation is designed to hear that in the language you’ve already been using, and to check whether the accumulated pattern is what depth-oriented long-arc relationship work is actually built for. Usually it is.
What that opens is a substantially longer arc than short-term couples counseling. Sessions work with attachment ruptures that never got repaired, roles each partner took on and then couldn’t put down, and developmental needs that got sidelined by the shape of the marriage. For Pasadena families with adult children or multigenerational dynamics, APG’s systemic family work runs alongside the couples work inside the same clinical team — so a case that starts as Marriage & Multigenerational Family Therapy can grow to include adult family sessions without being handed to another provider. The APA’s guidance on choosing a psychologist is worth reading before any first call.
Sessions happen in person at Mid-Wilshire (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520, Los Angeles 90048) or by secure telehealth; long-term couples often use a mix, especially when adult family members join for specific sessions. The practice is private-pay with superbills for out-of-network reimbursement. Call (310) 866-0440 to schedule directly, or use the online booking system.
Office hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM (additional times available as needed), with additional times arranged when the standard availability doesn’t quite fit. For Pasadena clients specifically, the intake team can advise on current wait times, clinician availability, and whether the format that fits your schedule is in-person, telehealth, or a mix. The consultation is free, no diagnosis is required to start, and you can pause or end the work at any point without penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Relationship Therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Pasadena?
Relationship therapy at Angeles Psychology Group for Pasadena is depth-oriented care for long-term partners and adult family systems, working with the accumulated patterns — not just the current argument — that shape how a partnership has evolved over years or decades. The clinical work integrates EFT for attachment repair, IFS for the parts each partner took on across the arc, and depth work for what the marriage was originally organized to hold.
Who provides the care?
Care is provided by a multi-clinician team including licensed psychologists, licensed marriage and family therapists, and associate (pre-licensed) clinicians working under doctoral-level clinical supervision. The practice is founded and clinically directed by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD (PSY25154), a licensed clinical psychologist. Angeles Psychology Group is a psychology practice and does not prescribe medication — where medication is relevant, care is coordinated with the client’s own prescriber. All clinicians hold current California licensure or are registered associates working under supervision.
How is this different from short-term couples counseling?
Short-term couples counseling usually targets a presenting conflict at the surface layer. Depth-oriented relationship work also addresses the underlying patterns — attachment histories, character-level defenses, unmet developmental needs — that generate the recurring conflict. The two are complementary rather than competing, but for long partnerships carrying accumulated distance rather than acute conflict, the depth-oriented layer is usually where durable change happens.
Is telehealth available for clients in Pasadena?
Yes. Sessions are available in person at our Mid-Wilshire office (6363 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 520, Los Angeles, CA 90048) or by secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth across California. Telehealth removes the commute barrier for clients in Pasadena and is delivered with the same clinical depth as in-person work — the practice’s stated position is that depth-oriented care translates to the virtual format when the container is held accordingly. Clients often split between formats based on schedule and preference, keeping continuity with the same clinician.
How do we get started?
Begin with a free, 20-minute consultation — a conversation about fit before any commitment. A clinician helps you decide who should be involved (individual, couple, family, or group), what modality is likely to fit, and what the work might look like, with no obligation. You can book online or call (310) 866-0440. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM (additional times available as needed), and additional times can be arranged by request.
About this page
This page reflects the practice of Angeles Psychology Group, a depth-oriented, affirming psychology practice in Los Angeles founded by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD (PSY25154). Angeles Psychology Group provides psychotherapy and does not prescribe medication; where medication is relevant, care is coordinated with a client’s own prescriber. Claims about psychotherapy are framed as research suggests and cited to primary sources below.
Reviewed by Dr. Neil Schierholz, PsyD. Last updated September 2026.
Sources & Further Reading
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