Most couples therapy models assume a relationship structure built around exclusivity. Monogamy is the standard. For those practicing ethical non-monogamy, these assumptions can create blind spots in the therapeutic process.
Effective ENM therapy requires more than acceptance. There has to be understanding. An ENM-informed therapist recognizes the unique dynamics that arise in open relationships, polyamorous relationships, throuples, and polycules. They help clients navigate communication, trust, attachment, agreements, and accountability without imposing monogamous assumptions.
Our therapists have the training, knowledge, and experience to help you build relationships that are honest, intentional, emotionally sustainable, and aligned with the agreements you’ve chosen together.
Most couples therapy models assume a relationship structure built around exclusivity. Monogamy is the standard. For those practicing ethical non-monogamy, these assumptions can create blind spots in the therapeutic process.
Effective ENM therapy requires more than acceptance. There has to be understanding. An ENM-informed therapist recognizes the unique dynamics that arise in open relationships, polyamorous relationships, throuples, and polycules. They help clients navigate communication, trust, attachment, agreements, and accountability without imposing monogamous assumptions.
Our therapists have the training, knowledge, and experience to help you build relationships that are honest, intentional, emotionally sustainable, and aligned with the agreements you’ve chosen together.
ENM relationships require more explicit conversations about expectations, agreements, and boundaries. We help partners create agreements that are clear, realistic, and adaptable while establishing boundaries that support trust, autonomy, and relational stability.
Jealousy, insecurity, comparison, and fear are common human experiences that can arise in any relationship structure. Rather than treating these emotions as problems to eliminate, we help clients understand what they are communicating and respond with greater awareness and intention.
Healthy non-monogamy requires balancing personal freedom with responsibility to others. We help partners navigate competing needs, clarify expectations, and make decisions that honor both individual agency and relational accountability.
As relationships become more complex, communication becomes more important, not less. We help clients build communication practices that reduce confusion, increase transparency, and create the conditions for trust and emotional safety.
Broken agreements, withheld information, and breaches of trust can have significant consequences. Repair requires accountability, transparency, and a willingness to understand impact. We guide clients through that process in a structured and productive way.
Our goal is not to fit your relationships into someone else’s model. We help clients create relationship systems that can adapt to change, navigate complexity, and support long-term growth for everyone involved.
There is no single blueprint for ethical non-monogamy. Every relationship system is different, and what works for one may not work for another.
Our role is not to tell you how your relationships should look. Our role is to help you understand what is and isn’t working, navigate challenges more effectively, and create a structure that supports the relationships you’re trying to build.
Our work is informed by attachment science, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Relational Life Therapy (RLT), family systems theory, and trauma-informed care. We view relationship challenges within the context of the larger relational system, helping clients understand the patterns, interactions, and dynamics that shape their experiences.
Sessions are active, collaborative, and focused on practical change. We slow interactions down, identify what’s happening beneath the surface, and help clients move beyond the same conversations and conflicts that keep repeating.
You may be opening a previously monogamous relationship and finding that the reality feels more complicated than the conversations that led to it. You may be trying to navigate multiple relationships while balancing the needs of different people. Perhaps you’re discovering that what worked in one season of your relationship no longer works in this one.
Our clients come to therapy for a variety of different reasons including feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, unsure or having experienced a betrayal. You may be questioning whether your current relationship structure is sustainable, struggling to navigate competing needs, or trying to create something that feels both authentic and stable.
Whether you’re actively practicing ENM or trying it for the first time, therapy can provide a space to slow down, gain clarity, and make more intentional decisions about the relationships you’re building.
You may be opening a previously monogamous relationship and finding that the reality feels more complicated than the conversations that led to it. You may be trying to navigate multiple relationships while balancing the needs of different people. Perhaps you’re discovering that what worked in one season of your relationship no longer works in this one.
Our clients come to therapy for a variety of different reasons including feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, unsure or having experienced a betrayal. You may be questioning whether your current relationship structure is sustainable, struggling to navigate competing needs, or trying to create something that feels both authentic and stable.
Whether you’re actively practicing ENM or trying it for the first time, therapy can provide a space to slow down, gain clarity, and make more intentional decisions about the relationships you’re building.
You may be opening a previously monogamous relationship and finding that the reality feels more complicated than the conversations that led to it. You may be trying to navigate multiple relationships while balancing the needs of different people. Perhaps you’re discovering that what worked in one season of your relationship no longer works in this one.
Our clients come to therapy for a variety of different reasons including feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, unsure or having experienced a betrayal. You may be questioning whether your current relationship structure is sustainable, struggling to navigate competing needs, or trying to create something that feels both authentic and stable.
Whether you’re actively practicing ENM or trying it for the first time, therapy can provide a space to slow down, gain clarity, and make more intentional decisions about the relationships you’re building.
In ENM relationships, ruptures may involve broken agreements, withheld information, dishonesty, boundary violations, or mismatched expectations.
While the details may differ from traditional infidelity, the emotional impact can be just as significant.
When trust has been damaged, we help you:
Repair requires more than apologies. Avoidance and defensiveness will deepen the wound. Honesty, accountability, and clarity are what creates movement toward healing.
Our therapists offer free consultations so you can ask questions, express concerns, and get to know your potential therapist before committing.
Together, we’ll explore whether therapy should include multiple partners, what format is likely to be most effective, and what changes might help create more clarity, stability, and movement in your relationships.
Relationship complexity isn’t the problem. The challenge is figuring out how to navigate it in a way that works for everyone involved. With the right support, that complexity can become something thoughtful, stable, and uniquely your own.
ENM is the umbrella. Ethical non-monogamy encompasses relationship structures in which people consensually engage in romantic or sexual relationships with more than one person. It’s defined by transparency, consent, and open communication among everyone involved.
Polyamory typically means multiple romantic relationships. An open relationship usually means a primary couple who’ve agreed to sexual involvement with others. All are valid architectures of relationship.
No. Cheating is the breaking of a relationship’s agreement. The key part of ethical non-monogamy is that everyone involved knows the relationship agreement and consents to be part of it. The “ethical” part is doing the actual work of that. Which is harder than most people expect and more meaningful than most people assume.
ENM is about sex to the same degree that any romantic relationship is about sex. For some, sex is a driving factor. For others, romance and emotional or spiritual connection are more important. ENM includes everything from deeply committed multi-partner romantic relationships to more casual agreements with clear limits. The shape is yours to define.
Most people experience jealousy from time to time. Some also experience compersion; the experience of feeling joy about their partner’s connection with someone else.
The idea that choosing ENM means eliminating jealousy is a myth that makes people feel like they’re failing at something they’re doing right. Jealousy is a natural emotion, not a sign of failure. We help you unpack the roots of jealousy, communicate around it, and develop tools to navigate it with compassion and insight.
Not at 53C. You shouldn’t have to spend therapy sessions defending your relationship. A truly affirming therapist provides support, not judgment. We don’t view ENM as a problem to be diagnosed, a phase to be waited out, or a symptom of avoidant attachment. It’s a legitimate relationship choice and we work within it, not against it.
Research shows over half of ENM clients report their therapists held judgmental beliefs, and one in five had to educate their therapist on basic concepts. This creates a serious barrier to care that can leave clients feeling misunderstood or harmed. At 53C, we already know the terrain. We have experts who have not only clinical knowledge but lived experience.
Not rules so much as agreements. There’s a difference. Unlike monogamous relationships where rules tend to be implicit due to cultural norms, polyamorous relationships require realistic, clearly defined, consciously created, mutually agreed upon agreements where the needs of all involved are included but are flexible enough to allow for change. Our therapists help you build agreements that are honest, not just protective.
That’s one of the most common things we work on. One person moving faster than the other or one person more enthusiastic than the other. These are very real tensions that need honest conversation, not just more negotiation. 53C ENM therapy gives that conversation somewhere safe to land.
Of course! And they should. A foundational structure of these agreements is agreed malleability as you each grow and discover different things about yourself. What works in year one of ENM often needs renegotiation in year three. That’s how living systems work.
Yes! We work with polycules of any size. Whoever needs to be in the room can be in the room. We structure the work in a way that gives everyone’s experience appropriate space.
Not at all! Many people come to therapy while considering or preparing for non-monogamy. Our therapy room offers space to reflect, ask questions, and make choices aligned with your personal and relational values. You can come in curious, confused, or mid-process. All of those are valid entry points.
Reach out to us today to start your therapy journey with 53 Christopher. Our team is here to support you on your path to personal growth and well-being.
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