Relationship Counseling for Teens & Young Adults in Fort Wayne, IN
Build healthier relationships that feel safe, supportive, and genuine
Relationship counseling helps teens and young adults understand recurring relationship patterns and build the skills to form healthier, more secure connections. Whether the challenge is dating stress, friendship conflict, family dynamics, toxic relationship patterns, or attachment anxiety, therapy at Unwilted Counseling supports clients ages 13–25 in understanding what's happening and responding differently. Sessions are available in person in Fort Wayne, Indiana, or virtually across Indiana and eligible parts of Ohio.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to discuss what's going on and find out if Unwilted Counseling is the right fit.
IS THIS YOU?
What Is Relationship Counseling?
Relationship counseling is individual therapy focused on how a person relates to others, in romantic partnerships, family relationships, and friendships. Rather than treating each relationship as a separate problem, this work identifies the underlying patterns, attachment style, and emotional habits that repeat across different relationships, and builds the communication and boundary-setting skills needed to change them.
This is not couples counseling. The client attends individually, which allows relationship patterns, history, and difficult dynamics to be explored with complete confidentiality.
Signs You May Benefit From Relationship Counseling
Relationship difficulties tend to show up differently depending on the relationship, but common signs include:
Romantic Relationships
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A relationship that feels more stressful than supportive
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Anxiety around texts, mixed signals, or waiting to hear back
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Confusion about what qualifies as healthy versus concerning behavior
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A repeating pattern with controlling or emotionally unavailable partners
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Breakups that feel disproportionately difficult to move past
HOW THERAPY CHANGES EVERYTHING
Family Dynamics
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Boundaries that are consistently not respected
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Feeling controlled, compared to others, or pulled into ongoing conflict
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Difficulty being authentic at home
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Guilt tied to independence or family and cultural expectations
Friendships
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Exclusion, ghosting, or inconsistent treatment from friends
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Feeling lonely even while surrounded by people
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Difficulty maintaining friendships as interests or values change
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Social comparison, particularly through social media, that makes connection feel draining
These patterns often overlap with anxiety, low self-esteem, or difficulty with emotion regulation, relationship stress rarely stays contained to a single area of life.
Why Relationship Patterns Are Especially Difficult Right Now
Teens and young adults are navigating relationships in an environment shaped by social media, dating apps, constant communication, and often unrealistic expectations, frequently without a clear model for what a healthy relationship actually looks like. Over time, this can affect self-worth, mental health, and confidence in future relationships, and it's common to begin wondering whether the difficulty is a personal failing rather than a learnable, changeable pattern.
It is not a personal failing. Relationship difficulty is common and, more importantly, addressable, which is the basis for how treatment is approached at Unwilted Counseling.
MY APPROACH
Our Approach to Relationship Counseling
Treatment combines insight into relationship patterns with concrete, practical skill-building:
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Attachment-Focused Understanding - identifying attachment style (anxious, avoidant, or secure) and how it shapes patterns across romantic, family, and friend relationships.
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Pattern Recognition - identifying recurring relationship cycles, one's own role within them, the origin of common triggers, and how to interrupt patterns that no longer serve the client.
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Applied Relationship Skills - assertive communication, active listening, boundary-setting, emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and repair after conflict.
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Self-Work Alongside Relationship Skills - building self-worth independent of relationship outcomes, addressing trauma that affects connection, and strengthening trust in one's own judgment.
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Evidence-Based Techniques - Attachment Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and trauma-focused approaches, all adapted for teens and young adults.
WHAT TO EXPECT
How Relationship Counseling Can Help
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Understand recurring patterns. Identify unhealthy dynamics, attachment styles, and warning signs so the same difficulties stop repeating across relationships.
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Communicate without escalating conflict. Express needs clearly, set boundaries, and have direct conversations without fighting or shutting down.
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Build self-worth independent of relationship outcomes. Reduce the extent to which self-value depends on how a relationship is going.
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Set boundaries without guilt. Decline requests, hold limits, and trust that healthy relationships can withstand boundaries.
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Process past relational hurt. Work through breakups, rebuild trust in future relationships, and move forward rather than remaining stuck.
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Make relationship decisions with clarity. Get support evaluating whether to stay or leave a relationship, set boundaries with family, or step back from an unhealthy dynamic.
WHY CHOOSE UNWILTED COUNSELING
About Your Therapist
Clients work directly with Destina Rekeweg, LMHC. Destina holds a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over three years of experience, trained in EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), specializing in trauma, attachment, and relationship patterns in teens and young adults.
Her approach treats relationship difficulty as a pattern to understand rather than a personal failure, helping clients see their own role in a dynamic without shame while building the self-worth and skills needed to choose healthier relationships going forward. Because Unwilted Counseling is a solo practice, every client receives consistent, one-on-one care from the same therapist throughout treatment.
In-Person Counseling and Virtual Counseling Across Indiana and Ohio
Relationship counseling is designed for teens and young adults ages 13–25 and is available in whichever format best fits a client's comfort level and schedule.
In-Person Counseling in Fort Wayne
In-person sessions take place in a private, comfortable office at 3514 Stellhorn Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46815, serving clients throughout Fort Wayne and Allen County.
Virtual Counseling Across Indiana and Ohio
Secure, HIPAA-compliant virtual therapy is available across Indiana, and, through the Counseling Compact, in eligible parts of Ohio. Sessions are not recorded and can be attended from home, campus, or another private location.
What to Expect: Treatment Timeline
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Weeks 1–4: Understand recurring patterns, identify attachment style, and begin learning initial coping and communication skills.
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Weeks 5–12: Build communication and boundary-setting skills, with many clients beginning to notice reduced conflict and anxiety.
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Weeks 13–24: Deeper healing work, more fundamental pattern shifts, and increasingly authentic self-expression in relationships.
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Ongoing: Reinforce new patterns, sustain progress, and maintain lasting relationship health.
Many clients report meaningfully healthier communication, stronger boundaries, and a more secure attachment style with consistent weekly or biweekly sessions over roughly four to six months. Timelines vary based on individual history, consistency, and treatment goals.
GETTING STARTED
Getting Started: The Process
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Free consultation (15 minutes) - a low-pressure conversation to discuss relationship challenges and ask questions, with no obligation to continue.
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Initial assessment (50 minutes) - a comprehensive look at relationship history, current patterns, and treatment goals.
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Ongoing sessions - weekly or biweekly therapy focused on building skills, addressing underlying patterns, and supporting lasting change.
Investing in Relationship Counseling
Unwilted Counseling is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly, which allows treatment to be guided by clinical need rather than what an insurance panel will authorize. Clients may use out-of-network benefits for possible reimbursement, and a sliding scale is available for financial need.
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Initial assessment (50 min): $160
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Individual sessions (50 min): $135
Consistent counseling is an investment in outcomes that extend well beyond any single relationship, the ability to recognize unhealthy patterns early, communicate directly, and build relationships that are genuinely supportive. Full details are available on the fees and policies page.
Confidentiality
For clients 18 and older, therapy is completely confidential except in situations involving safety. For teens under 18, confidentiality is balanced with appropriate parental involvement, consistent with Indiana law and standard clinical ethics, and is discussed clearly during the initial assessment.
RELATIONSHIP THERAPY FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Why Choose Unwilted Counseling
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Focused expertise (ages 13–25): care that reflects the specific relationship pressures teens and young adults face, including social media, dating apps, and family or cultural expectations.
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Attachment-informed, evidence-based care: methods grounded in established clinical research, including Attachment Theory, CBT, DBT, and EFT.
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Individual therapy model: complete confidentiality to explore relationship patterns honestly, without a partner or family member in the room.
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Consistency: a solo practice model means clients work with the same therapist at every session, rather than being reassigned between providers.
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Flexible access: in-person sessions in Fort Wayne and secure virtual sessions across Indiana and eligible parts of Ohio.
BEGINNING RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING
Related Concerns We Treat
Relationship struggles rarely occur in isolation. Depending on individual circumstances, the following related services may also be relevant:
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Self-Esteem & Identity Counseling - for the self-worth struggles that often underlie relationship patterns
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Trauma Therapy - when relationship patterns are rooted in past painful or traumatic experiences
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Emotion Regulation Counseling - for managing the emotional intensity relationship conflict can bring
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Anxiety & Depression Therapy - for anxiety or low mood tied to relationship stress
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Social Anxiety Counseling - for friendship and social-connection struggles
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Life Transition Counseling - when a breakup, move, or family change is part of the picture
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Individual Therapy - for a broader, personalized approach to overall mental health
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Teens & Young Adults Counseling - the core age-specific care model behind every specialty at Unwilted Counseling
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Frequently Asked Questions
Relationship counseling is individual therapy focused on understanding and improving how a person relates to others, romantic partners, family, and friends. It helps identify unhealthy patterns, builds communication and boundary-setting skills, and supports healing from relational trauma so relationships feel supportive rather than draining.
Attachment style describes patterns learned early in life for connecting with others, typically categorized as secure, anxious, or avoidant. It shapes how someone handles closeness, conflict, and fear of abandonment in romantic, family, and friend relationships. Identifying attachment style is often one of the fastest ways to understand recurring relationship struggles.
Difficult relationships involve normal friction that both people work through together. Toxic relationships involve a consistent pattern of control, disrespect, dishonesty, or emotional harm that leaves a person feeling anxious, small, or unsafe rather than supported. Ongoing uncertainty about whether a relationship is healthy is itself worth exploring in therapy.
No. Relationship counseling at Unwilted Counseling is individual therapy, not couples counseling. The client attends alone and works on their own patterns, communication, and boundaries, which allows for complete confidentiality and a focus on personal growth rather than joint sessions with a partner or family member.
Many clients notice clearer patterns and initial communication skills within the first month, stronger boundaries and reduced conflict over the following two to three months, and deeper shifts in attachment patterns over four to six months of consistent weekly or biweekly sessions. Timelines vary based on individual circumstances.
Relationship counseling is primarily individual therapy. For clients under 18, family sessions may be included when appropriate and with the teen's consent, but the core work remains focused on the individual client's patterns and healing.
For clients 18 and older, therapy is fully confidential except in situations involving safety. For clients under 18, confidentiality is balanced with appropriate parental involvement, consistent with Indiana law and standard clinical ethics.
Unwilted Counseling is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. Clients may use out-of-network benefits for possible reimbursement. Ongoing 50-minute sessions are $135, and the initial intake assessment is $160. A sliding scale is available for financial need.
Good Faith Estimate: Clients paying privately have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining expected costs of care. You may request this prior to scheduling.
Start Relationship Counseling in Fort Wayne Today
Relationship difficulty is common, and it responds well to the right support. A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to determine whether working together is the right fit. Call or text (260) 255-6432 or request your free consultation online.
