Couples Counseling
Boulder, Colorado
You probably didn’t picture love feeling this complicated. It’s not that you’re broken. It’s that relationships are humbling.
Even strong couples get lost. Therapy helps you find your way back with more honesty, humor, and skill.
I help couples and individuals strengthen communication, rebuild trust, and deepen intimacy: emotionally and physically. My work is trauma-informed. It integrates evidence-based methods like the Gottman Method with mindfulness and somatic awareness, creating a clear, grounded path toward lasting connection. You’ll learn to welcome all your partner’s parts - and your own.
Scroll down to learn how couples therapy works & how you can become the happiest person and couple you know.
What is couples counseling?
Before licensed therapists, there were village elders…
Before there were couches and clipboards, couples brought their problems to the village fire. In many Indigenous communities, relationships were considered everyone’s business. Not because people were nosy, but because love was seen as part of the whole ecosystem.
If two partners were struggling, elders or community members might gather with them, listen to both sides, and help them speak honestly. Sometimes with humor, sometimes with ceremony, always with care. The goal wasn’t to figure out who was right; it was to restore harmony so everyone could sleep a little easier that night.
They didn’t call it “couples therapy,” but the spirit was the same: slow down, tell the truth, listen, and remember you’re part of something bigger than just your argument.
What Couples Counseling Is in the 21st Century
Couples therapy is a structured, research-based process that helps partners understand each other more clearly and communicate more effectively. It’s a space to slow down, reflect, and make sense of the patterns that keep you stuck… so you can reconnect with greater honesty and ease.
Most couples don’t come to therapy because they’re in crisis. They come because something that used to feel natural has started to feel confusing or tense. Maybe communication feels harder, intimacy feels off, or you’ve both become distant without meaning to.
Meet the Team
Catherine Verity Thornber, LPCC, RYT
Catherine is a therapist and counselor in Boulder, Colorado. She supports clients with relationships, sex, trauma, and anxiety. She spends her free time hiking with her pups, traveling with her partner, or reading at the creek. She loves to garden, salsa dance, attend debates, and host pajama parties.
Cinnamon & Tío Thornber, Mischeivious Sprites
Cinnamon and Tío enjoy squirrel hunting, requesting human food, and giving you love through sessions when you’re triggered. They attend sessions upon request and would love to meet you.
Training, Certifications, & Affiliations
Degrees
M.A. Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Naropa University
B.A. Cross-Cultural Psychology (Major), Communication (Minor)
Couples & Sex Therapy Training
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level II training, Gottman Institute
Gottman Method Couples Therapy: Level I training, Gottman Institute
Therapy for Partner Aggression & Abuse, Gottman Institute
Lessons in Love Leader Training, Gottman Institute
The Art & Science of Relationships: Understanding Human Needs, University of Toronto
Two-Year Couples & Sex Therapy Certification, Sexual Health Alliance (enrolled)
Two-Year Sex Therapy Certification, Sexual Health Alliance (enrolled)
Two-Year Sex Educator Certification, Sexual Health Alliance (enrolled)
Internal Family Sytems (IFS) to Advance Trauma Therapy with Couples & Families, IFS Institute
Trauma & Mental Health Training
Sensorimotor Therapy for Trauma Level 1, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute
EMDR Institute Fundamental Training: Adults, Teens, and Children (enrolled)
Sensorimotor Fundamentals, Pat Ogden
Identifying Early Signs of Psychosis in Adolescents & Young Adults, Stanford University Continuing Studies
DBT for Clinicians: 15 Core Techniques to Improve Emotional Regulation & Manage Distress, Alexa Mulee
Certified Attachment & Personality Patterns Specialist (CAPPS): Clinical Integrations for Trauma, Anxiety, Attachment Insecurity, Relational Distress, Dan Siegal (enrolled)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) & Diversity & Inclusion, IFS Institute
Coaching for Self-Leadership: An Introduction to Internal Family Systems, IFS Institute
Clinical Ethics Training
Ethics in Practice, Online Specialty Training Series, National Association of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC)
Boundaries & Dual Relationships in Clinical Practice: Ethical & Risk Management Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer
The Body Beyond Therapy
Peak Performance Neuroscience Coach Certification, Flow Research Collective
Certified Health Coach, Institute for Integrative Nutrition
200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200)
Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training 200-Hour, Centered Yoga Institute
Reiki I, Reiki Colorado
Authentic Movement Facilitator
Power of Awareness, Jack Kornfield & Tara Brach
Families & Adolescents
Teen Success: Cultivating Purpose & Achievement, Gottman Institute
The Secret Life of Teens, Gottman Institute
Science of the Teenage Mind, Gottman Institute
Emotion Coaching: The Heart of Relating to Teens and Tweens, Gottman Institute
Identifying Early Signs of Psychosis in Adolescents & Young Adults, Stanford University Continuing Studies
What is Trust-Based Relational Intervention?, Families Are Forever
Clinical Affiliations & Memberships
American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists
American Psychological Association
Western Psychological Association
American Counseling Association
Colorado Counseling Association
Association for Addiction Professionals
Nonclinical Post-Grad Training
Certificate in Forensic Identification, Ecomuseum de Cavallaria
Augment MBA, Augment
Purpose MBA, Jay Shetty Certification School
AI for Everyone, DeepLearning.AI
Introduction to Social Media Marketing, Meta
Meisner Acting with the Body, Chris Thatcher Acting Studio
Improv Comedy Level I & II: Improv Boulder
Creative Writing, Stanford Continuing Studies
Introduction to Marketing, University of Pennsylvania
Certified Life Purpose Coach, Transformative Services
I love couples work. Who you partner with is the most important decision most people will make in their lives - and how you navigate that relationship will influence happiness, child wellbeing, longevity, accomplishment in goal-setting, and even how many sick days you have per year. Yes - the way you communicate with your spouse correlates with how often you contract an infection.
I am extensively trained in the world’s most evidence-based couples counseling modality: the Gottman Method. After taking over ten Gottman training courses, establishing certification in Levels 1 & 2, & supporting countless couples using this well-researched modality, I feel confident in the potential of any human to establish relationship mastery in romantic and platonic relationships.
I regularly travel globally to continue my education in relationships, trauma, human sexuality, and mental health. I believe in a cross-cultural approach, & learning how cultures around the world navigate relationships, sex, & wellbeing is paramount to my clinical approach.
I facilitate workshops & discussion groups, & speaking engagements on effective communication, sex & intimacy, friendship & closeness, & more.
Let’s work together.
Interested in working together? Fill out some info, & I’ll be in touch shortly. I’m looking forward to connecting with you.