New Season of Couples Therapy? It Might Be Time to Start Your Own

Do You See Yourself in These Couples? What Dr. Orna’s New Season Reveals, and Why It Might Be Time for Therapy

If you’ve been watching the newest season of Couples Therapy with Dr. Orna Guralnik, you’re not alone. Every time new episodes drop, I notice a surge of inquiries, and it makes sense. The raw, unscripted look at intimate relationships gives people language for what they’ve been feeling but couldn’t quite name.

This season, Dr. Orna works with couples navigating emotional disconnection, lingering resentment, trauma that gets triggered in conflict, and relationships where one partner feels like they’re doing all the work. If you're watching and find yourself tensing up, nodding along, or even getting teary, you’re not just a viewer. You’re resonating. That’s a clue.

Here are a few key patterns emerging this season that might feel familiar:

1. The Pursuer-Distancer Cycle
One partner wants to talk and fix things now. The other pulls away or shuts down, overwhelmed by the intensity. The more one presses, the more the other retreats. Over time, both feel misunderstood and alone. This cycle can look like bickering or cold silences, but underneath, it’s usually fear and unmet needs.

2. Old Wounds That Still Shape Today’s Conflicts
Sometimes it’s a grief that was never processed, or a past trauma that gets stirred up in moments of stress. These issues don’t always come up right away in a relationship. But they affect how partners argue, how they comfort each other, and how safe they feel opening up.

3. Quiet Resentment Around Sacrifice
One partner made the bigger compromises. Moved cities. Gave up a career path. Lost a sense of identity. It may not be named directly, but it comes through in tension, shortness, or withdrawal. These are the kinds of emotional truths that need air in order to heal.

4. Unequal Emotional Labor
Sometimes one partner becomes the emotional grown-up, keeping everything afloat. They manage the logistics, initiate hard conversations, or carry the weight of regulation for both people. This imbalance is often invisible until burnout or resentment sets in.