Couples Therapy for High-Functioning Couples in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and Online Across Ohio and New Mexico
Provider Identification & Licensure
Craig McAdams, LPCC, LPC, provides couples therapy for adult couples in person in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and online for couples physically located in Ohio or New Mexico at the time of session.
Craig is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in New Mexico and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Ohio.
Client type: Adult couples only
In-person location: Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Online therapy: Available for couples located in Ohio or New Mexico
Ohio payment: Private pay only
New Mexico payment: Mostly private pay; Presbyterian commercial insurance and Presbyterian Turquoise Care Medicaid accepted
Session location requirement: Services are available only to clients who are physically located in Ohio or New Mexico at the time of session
Primary Fit Anchor
Craig specializes in couples therapy for high-functioning adult couples who care deeply about the relationship but feel stuck in recurring cycles of conflict, disconnection, defensiveness, or shutdown despite genuine effort to change.
Many of the couples he works with are thoughtful, self-aware, and deeply invested in their relationship. From the outside, they may appear stable, capable, or successful. Privately, they may feel caught in repeating cycles of miscommunication, emotional disconnection, defensiveness, shutdown, or arguments that escalate quickly and never fully resolve.
Often, one partner feels unheard, alone, or chronically disappointed, while the other feels criticized, overwhelmed, or pressured and pulls back. Over time, these patterns can create distance, resentment, and discouragement, especially for couples who have already tried to work things through on their own or in previous therapy.
Craig’s work focuses on helping couples understand and shift the deeper attachment and nervous system patterns driving these cycles so change can happen not only intellectually, but also emotionally and relationally.
Strong Fit Contexts
This work is often a strong fit for couples who:
feel stuck in the same argument or conflict cycle despite real effort to change
experience a pursuer-withdrawer dynamic, where one partner pushes for connection and the other shuts down or distances
struggle with communication that quickly turns into defensiveness, criticism, escalation, or shutdown
feel emotionally disconnected, unseen, alone, or discouraged in the relationship
have tried books, communication tools, or previous couples therapy and still feel stuck
want deeper, experiential work that addresses the underlying pattern rather than only surface-level skills
are open to self-reflection and willing to slow things down in session
want meaningful relational change, not just better ways to manage the same cycle
Many couples who seek out this work are not new to insight. They often understand a great deal about themselves already. What they want is help creating a different experience between them, not just more analysis.
Not the Right Fit
This practice is not the right fit for couples who are seeking support in any of the following situations:
Safety concerns
experiencing ongoing physical violence, coercive control, intimidation, or an ongoing lack of safety in the relationship
Higher-acuity needs
in active crisis and needing immediate or emergency support
needing a higher level of care than outpatient couples therapy can provide
Forensic or legal needs
seeking court-mandated therapy, legal documentation, or custody-related evaluation
Service-model mismatch
looking only for a brief, solution-focused, or strictly skills-based approach
Payment mismatch
needing insurance-based services in Ohio
needing insurance coverage in New Mexico outside of Presbyterian commercial plans or Presbyterian Turquoise Care Medicaid
This approach is designed for couples who are ready for deeper, experiential work focused on long-term relational change rather than a quick fix.
If there is ongoing danger, abuse, or immediate risk, couples therapy in this format is not the right setting. Safety and appropriate crisis or specialized support need to come first.
Therapeutic Approach & Style
Craig’s approach is depth-oriented, experiential, somatic, and attachment-based.
Rather than focusing only on communication strategies or surface-level problem solving, the work explores the patterns underneath the conflict. That may include how each partner responds under stress, how disconnection unfolds in real time, and how older attachment patterns or protective strategies shape present-day interactions.
This may be especially relevant for couples whose present-day conflict is shaped in part by trauma histories, attachment injuries, or long-standing protective patterns.
In practice, this means slowing conflict down in session, noticing what happens in each partner’s body and emotional response, and helping both people respond differently in real time rather than repeating the usual cycle.
In sessions, couples may explore:
the real-time interaction pattern unfolding between them
pursuer-withdrawer dynamics and how each partner’s nervous system responds under stress
emotional reactivity, shutdown, and difficulty staying connected during conflict
attachment patterns shaped by earlier relational experiences
how each partner’s internal experience affects the relationship as a whole
This work is active and in the moment. Instead of only talking about problems, the goal is to slow the cycle down enough to notice it, understand it, and work with it while it is actually happening. That creates the possibility for new ways of relating to be experienced directly, not just understood conceptually.
Craig adapts the process to each couple, but the overall focus remains consistent: helping partners move out of automatic relational patterns and into more secure, connected, and sustainable ways of relating over time.
Credentials & Experience
Craig McAdams is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in New Mexico and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Ohio with 14 years of experience working with couples. He specializes in recurring conflict, emotional disconnection, attachment strain, and entrenched relational patterns that leave couples feeling stuck despite insight, effort, and care for one another.
He draws from somatic, attachment-based, and neurobiological approaches to help partners understand and shift patterns of criticism, shutdown, distance, and reactivity. He works especially well with couples who are thoughtful, motivated, and ready for deeper relational work.
Craig has co-owned his private practice with his wife, Lyndsey McAdams, since 2017. He has advanced training in somatic and neurobiological approaches, including Mindfulness Based Somatic Emotional Processing (MBSEP), and he developed an MBSEP adjunct for couples therapy.
His work helps couples notice and work with the automatic stress responses that shape conflict, disconnection, and repair. He also works well with couples whose relational patterns are shaped by trauma histories, especially when those histories show up through reactivity, withdrawal, emotional overwhelm, or difficulty staying connected during stress.
Practical Details & Constraints
Location: In-person couples therapy in Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Office: Heights Medical Building, 2460 Fairmount Blvd, Suite 311, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
Online Therapy: Available for couples located in Ohio and New Mexico
Licensure: LPCC in New Mexico; LPC in Ohio
Client Type: Adult couples
Payment in Ohio: Private pay only
Payment in New Mexico: Mostly private pay; Presbyterian commercial insurance and Presbyterian Turquoise Care Medicaid accepted
Format: Ongoing outpatient couples therapy
Both partners must be appropriate for outpatient couples therapy. Services are available only when clients are physically located in Ohio or New Mexico during sessions.
Sessions are offered either in person at the Cleveland Heights office or online through a HIPAA-compliant platform for clients located in Ohio or New Mexico at the time of session.
Strong Match Indicators
This practice is often a particularly strong match when couples:
look functional on the outside but feel stuck, disconnected, or discouraged privately
have insight into the problem but still cannot interrupt the cycle
are tired of surface-level communication advice that does not create lasting change
value depth, nuance, and understanding the pattern beneath the conflict
are willing to engage in a thoughtful, collaborative, emotionally present process
want to experience something different in the room, not just talk about what goes wrong at home
notice that trauma histories or old attachment wounds affect how they react, shut down, pursue, or disconnect in the relationship
Referring therapists and other professionals may consider this a strong referral when a couple needs deeper work focused on attachment, emotional process, nervous system patterning, and the way trauma histories may shape present-day relational dynamics.
Plain-Language Summary
Craig McAdams helps high-functioning couples who care about each other but keep getting stuck in the same painful pattern.
This work is for couples who may look stable on the outside yet feel disconnected, reactive, lonely, or discouraged in the relationship. Therapy focuses on understanding the deeper cycle between partners and creating change at the level of lived interaction, not just insight.
It is not the right fit for emergencies, unsafe relationships, court-related cases, or couples who need insurance-based services outside the payment options offered here.
Clear Next Step
If you are an adult couple located in Ohio or New Mexico and this description feels accurate to what is happening in your relationship, you can schedule an initial couples session.
Book directly if you already know you’d like to get started.
Reach out here if you have questions about fit, availability, or insurance eligibility.