Couples & Individual Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah OFFERING VIRTUAL THERAPY IN VIRGINIA AND UTAH
Specializing in couples therapy, infidelity recovery, and life transitions
You and your partner feel more like roommates. Your communication is falling apart. You feel riddled with depression and anxiety and don' t know how to move forward. You just found out your partner cheated on you. You have no idea how to navigate a new chapter in your life.
Hugh Pinnock - Couples Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT
Several paths into a world of healing, change and self-discovery.
You are the heroes of your own story — I just help you find your way back.
Change IS possible! You don't have to be feeling confused or insecure about life's next steps. You can feel confident about communicating your feelings to your partner. Your can experience healing in your relationship after the devastating damage of an affair. You can become a stronger version of yourself! You can confidently communicate your feelings to your partner. You can experience unexpected life changes with hope and optimism.
Your Couples Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT!
My name is Hugh Pinnock. I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist available in Salt Lake City, UT by telehealth. My approaches are client-focused, guiding them to build confidence in their relationships with their partners and themselves. If you are reading this at 2 AM wondering whether to reach out, you are not the first. Let's get you back on track. Start with a free 15-minute call.
More about Hugh →Services Offered in Salt Lake City, UT
Couples Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTCouples Therapy
Right now, the words just aren't landing. You don't talk to each other like you used to. You just can't communicate what you're feeling or you have no idea what your partner is thinking. You're like ships in the night. Every conversation seems to end the same way - one of you pushing to talk it out, the other shutting down, and both of you going to bed hurt. Or the two of you have stopped trying altogether and live more like polite roommates than partners. You replay old conversations wondering where things went wrong, and the harder you try to fix it, the further apart you seem to drift. ## The love is still there - the connection just isn't what it used to be. Maybe there are even fights about the dishes, how often you have sex or parenting responsibilities. You find out that it's not about the dishes, how often you have sex or the kids. It's about feeling unappreciated, unheard, or alone in the relationship. It's about wanting to matter to your partner again and not knowing how to say it without starting another fight. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Couples Therapy Underneath every argument there is a longing to feel chosen, wanted, and safe with the person you love most - and right now neither of you knows how to reach for that. Couples come in for many reasons. You might recognize yourselves here: - Having the **same argument on repeat** with a different label each time - **Walking on eggshells** to keep the peace - **Hearing criticism** where your partner meant a request - **Keeping score** without meaning to - Rarely initiating sex because **rejection stings** more than going without - **Exhausted** by work, kids, or health and left with nothing at the end of the day - Running the household well together and feeling more like **co-managers than lovers** ## band-navy Couples Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT can help! You don't have to keep feeling like roommates, like you're invisible to the person who knows you best, or like you're one wrong sentence away from another fight. You don't have to lie awake replaying conversations, wondering if it will always be this way. Feeling unheard, unappreciated, and alone in your own marriage is not something you have to settle for - and it is not a life sentence. Change is possible. Couples who have been stuck for years find their way back to each other, and the distance you feel right now can become connection again. You can look forward to coming home. You can laugh together like you used to. You can feel chosen, wanted, and understood by your partner again. ## Benefits of Couples Therapy You learn how to validate one another and how to raise what you need without criticism. Each session leaves you with clarity you carry into the rest of the week, so the connection keeps building between sessions instead of fading by Monday. Emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy each get their own honest conversation instead of collapsing into a single argument. You name what you actually want rather than guessing at each other. Between sessions you practice initiating and responding, and the two of you start to see real change - feeling heard, feeling chosen, and feeling like partners again. - **You feel heard instead of dismissed**, even in the hardest conversations - **Criticism and shutdown give way to requests** you can actually respond to - **Emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy** each get their own honest conversation - **You say what you actually want** instead of guessing at each other - **Feeling chosen, wanted, and like partners again** instead of polite roommates ## My Approach for Couples Therapy I have worked with many couples in the Salt Lake City area. My couples therapy work is Gottman-informed with attachment theory underneath, which means we look at the bids you are making for each other and what happens when they get missed. I use research-based tools to replace criticism and shutdown with skills that help you feel heard, understood, and on the same team again. Rather than talking to me, I guide you to talk to each other! I remain impartial and unbiased in the conversation, acting as a guide to help you rebuild the relationship to a stronger, healthier place. I will assign you to implement skills and have experiences outside of session that will only help bring you closer together as partners. So let's start your journey! Come in a see if I'm a good fit for you and your partner! ## Reach out to a Couples Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
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Couples Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTPre-Marital Therapy
What is the next step for your relationship? You want to make sure you are both on the same page before the wedding or before moving in together. Pre-Marital Therapy has proven to help couples start their marriages off on the right foot. You are planning the biggest day of your lives, and it makes sense to also plan the biggest commitment of your lives. Engagement season is full of excitement and logistics, and it is easy for the deeper questions - how the two of you will handle stress, money, in-laws, and each other on a bad day - to stay politely unasked. Pre-Marital Therapy is where those questions finally get asked out loud, in a way that brings you closer together instead of starting another disagreement. ## Pre-Marital Therapy is not a warning sign - it's preparation You have talked about the venue, the guest list, and the budget for the reception far more than you have talked about money, in-laws, or what a hard week is going to look like for the two of you. The conversations you keep meaning to have get pushed to after things settle down - and things rarely settle down on their own. Most couples walk into marriage carrying unspoken assumptions about how it will all work, learned from the families they grew up in, and neither person realizes the other is playing by different rules until the first real conflict shows up. It is not a lack of love - it is simply that no one ever taught you how to have these conversations. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Pre-Marital Therapy Most couples find out in the first session that they have never actually said certain expectations out loud. Couples come in for Pre-Marital Therapy because they're: - **Moving in together** and unsure how to split money, chores, and time - **Blending families**, kids, or very different lifestyles and traditions - Getting a lot of **opinions from family** about how their relationship should go - Carrying **patterns from home** that you do not want to inherit - Coming from families that **handled conflict** in completely different ways - Unsure how you will **handle money** as a team versus separately - Wondering how **faith, holidays, and traditions** will get decided ## band-navy Pre-Marital Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT can help! You do not need to have your future mapped out to begin Pre-Marital Therapy. You don't have to walk down the aisle carrying unspoken assumptions, wondering how the two of you will handle money, in-laws, or a hard week. You don't have to wait for the first real conflict to find out you were playing by different rules the whole time. You don't have to inherit the patterns you grew up watching, and you don't have to figure any of this out on your own. Couples who prepare before the wedding start their marriage already feeling like a team, and the hardest conversations become the ones you are glad you had. Change is possible, and it is far easier to build the marriage you want now than to repair one later - the future you both want is well within reach. ## Benefits of Pre-Marital Therapy You do not have to walk into your marriage guessing, bracing for the first big fight, or hoping the hard topics somehow work themselves out. You do not have to repeat the patterns you grew up watching or find out after the wedding that the two of you were never on the same page. Couples who prepare together walk into married life already feeling like a team - with less anxiety, fewer blowups, and a real sense of confidence about the life they are building together. What you can expect from Pre-Marital Therapy: - **A shared language for the hard topics** like money, sex, in-laws, and kids - **A plan for how you fight and how you repair**, so conflict brings you closer instead of tearing you apart - **Expectations finally out in the open**, instead of silently assumed - **A clear picture of the marriage you are both signing up for** before the wedding day - **Confidence handling stress, money, and a bad week** as a team, instead of finding out the hard way - **Patterns from your families named and left behind**, so you start your marriage with a clean slate ## My Approach to Pre-Marital Therapy In Pre-Marital Therapy, the first sessions get concrete. We take stock of your strengths as a couple, because most couples underestimate theirs. We identify the areas of concern before they become arguments. We put expectations into words - about money, roles, sex, kids, time with family, and what support looks like when one of you is struggling. I have worked with several couples in the Salt Lake City area and I will work with you on expectations, finances, family, intimacy, and the patterns you don't want to inherit. Utilizing Gottman therapy, I will guide you to discuss your fears and anxieties as well as your excitement for the next step. You will build a shared plan for conflict before conflict shows up uninvited. So let's get started! Any worthwhile journey starts with a single step. Come see if I am a good fit for you! ## Reach out to a Pre-Marital Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
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Couples Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTInfidelity Recovery Therapy
You don't know if you can trust each other, or yourself, again. The day the affair came out split your life into before and after, and right now the after is very loud. You replay the weeks and months looking for the signs you missed, wondering how long it went on and what else you were not told. Sleep gets hard, food loses its taste, and your mind runs the same loop of questions all day long. Some moments you are certain you want to work it out, and other moments you cannot picture ever looking at them the same way again. It is exhausting, and you are tired of holding all of it by yourself. ## My partner cheated - now what do we do? Whether the affair was sexual or emotional, you can't look at your partner the same. The affair may have been disclosed or discovered. Loving memories together now feel tainted. The songs, the restaurants, the inside jokes - things that used to make you feel close now land like evidence. You're not sure if you want to save your relationship or to call it quits. You may be angry one hour and desperate to reconnect the next, and that whiplash alone makes you feel like you are losing your mind. This is not a sign that you are broken - it is what betrayal does to a person, and it is exactly what Infidelity Recovery Therapy is built to help you through. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Infidelity Recovery Therapy Couples come in for Infidelity Recovery Therapy after betrayal because they're: - Cycling between **rage**, **numbness**, and wanting to fix it all today - Asking the same questions and never **feeling settled** by the answers - Unsure whether staying makes them **strong** or **foolish** - Carrying **shame** that makes honest conversation feel impossible - Wanting to **repair** and not knowing where to put their hands ## band-navy Infidelity Recovery Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT can help! You don't have to keep living in the aftermath forever, replaying the betrayal or flinching at every notification. You don't have to stay stuck between rage and numbness, wondering if you will ever trust your partner - or yourself - again. Change is possible. Couples who come through Infidelity Recovery Therapy sleep through the night again, speak honestly without the conversation exploding, and rebuild a relationship that feels safe instead of surveilled. And if you decide to part ways, you can leave with clarity and self-respect instead of bitterness. ## Benefits of Infidelity Recovery Therapy You don't have to keep guessing what went wrong or what happens next. You don't have to stay trapped in the interrogation cycle, bracing for every phone buzz, or wondering whether your relationship - and your own peace of mind - can ever feel safe again. Change is possible, and couples who come through Infidelity Recovery Therapy feel it. What couples gain from Infidelity Recovery Therapy: - **Clarity about what actually broke**, instead of an endless loop of questions - **A real answer on whether to stay or separate**, made with a level head instead of in the middle of the storm - **A rebuilt sense of physical and emotional safety**, so home stops feeling like a crime scene - **Honest conversations that don't explode**, so the hurt finally gets spoken and heard - **Transparency that feels real, not performed**, so trust has something to stand on again - **A respectful ending with no unnecessary wreckage**, if separation turns out to be the right path ## My Approach for Infidelity Recovery Therapy In Infidelity Recovery Therapy, I first help you decide a direction. If there is hope in staying together, I help you reconnect emotionally and rebuild trust after betrayal with a structured path forward. We utilize honest conversations, accountability, and skills to repair at a pace that holds. I help the hurt partner express the impact without the conversation turning into an interrogation, and I help the partner who strayed take real accountability without hiding behind defensiveness or vague apologies. The hard questions get answered in a way that informs instead of re-traumatizes, and the answers come with patience instead of pressure. The hurt partner learns to say what they need on the worst days instead of shutting down or blowing up, and the partner who strayed learns to offer reassurance that is steady enough to actually be believed. Session by session, the checking, the dread, and the emotional whiplash loosen their grip. I have helped so many couples in Infidelity Recovery Therapy in the Salt Lake City area. In our work, we slow down the interrogation cycle, make room for the hurt to be spoken and heard, and build transparency that is real rather than performed. If it is decided to end the relationship, I help you begin to trust yourself first and develop confidence in your future. Come see if I'm the right fit for you and your partner. I would love to work with you as you navigate this journey! ## Reach out to an Infidelity Recovery Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
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Individual Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTAnxiety & Depression Therapy
You are a competent person in difficult life situations - feeling stuck, navigating a transition, or sensing there is more available than the current chapter allows. The frame is goal-oriented and future-facing, and the clinical training is there when the work needs it. Maybe you have been holding everything together for so long that you no longer remember what rest feels like. From the outside, life looks fine - work gets done, people get taken care of, the calendar stays full. On the inside, it takes everything you have to keep it that way. Anxiety and depression therapy is not about being broken or needing to be fixed. It is about having one hour a week where you do not have to perform, where we can look honestly at what is draining you and build something steadier in its place. ## You feel like you cannot live up to anyone's expectations, even your own. Anxiety and depression rarely announce themselves. They show up as ordinary days that take everything you have. They sound like the voice that says you should be handling this better, that everyone else manages just fine, that you have no real reason to feel this way. So you push harder. You add more to the list, apologize more often, and quietly lower what you expect from your own life. Over time the pushing stops working, and the exhaustion shows up in your sleep, your patience, your body, and your relationships. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Anxiety and Depression Therapy You are doing your best, but it doesn't feel like enough for anyone. You find yourself thinking about all the worst case scenarios and end up feeling hopeless and helpless. A small task at work or home feels like a mountain to climb. You might be looking for therapy because you're: - Waking up already **feeling behind**, already tired - **Snapping at the people you love most**, then feeling awful about it - Saying yes to everything and **resenting** all of it - Feeling **numb** rather than sad, flat rather than upset - Convinced everyone else has their life together while yours is a **wreck** You don't have to arrive with it all figured out. Most people come in able to say only that something is off. That is enough to start. ## band-navy Anxiety and Depression Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT can help! In Anxiety and Depression Therapy, we quiet the noise. You don't have to feel like you're not enough. You don't have to feel intimidated by small tasks anymore. You can start to feel more like yourself again - happy and confident. Together we slow things down enough to see what is actually happening - which thoughts are facts, which ones are habits, and which ones have been running your day without permission. We look at what drains you, what steadies you, and what small changes are genuinely within your control right now. ## Benefits of Anxiety and Depression Therapy You will notice the change in small moments first. You catch the worst-case spiral before it runs the whole day. A request from your boss feels like a task again instead of a verdict. You sleep, and the people around you notice you are quicker to laugh and slower to snap. The benefit is not that hard days stop happening - it is that you stop facing them with an empty tank. You leave with tools you can actually use, a clearer read on your own thought patterns, and the confidence that comes from watching yourself handle what used to flatten you. ## My Approach for Anxiety and Depression Therapy I am your biggest fan. I am cheering you on the whole way - through the ups and downs. Utilizing Solution Focused (SFT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), I help you discover the faulty thought patterns. I help you make necessary changes within your control and achieve a new identity filled with self-compassion and confidence. At your pace, we go back in time to when the unhealthy patterns began. I guide you to exercise self-compassion, on your way to develop understanding towards your past self rather than resentment or shame. From there, I guide you to master tools to steady yourself when life feels like too much, helping you to achieve a new level of confidence. You will leave sessions with specific tools, not vague advice: ways to interrupt the spiral, ways to talk to yourself that do not make things worse, and a plan for the moments that usually knock you flat. We practice them here so they are available when you actually need them. ## Reach out to an Anxiety and Depression Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
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Individual Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTPersonal Growth Therapy
This work takes a lot of forms. Life looks fine from the outside and still feels like it is running you rather than the other way around. Maybe it shows up as a restlessness you cannot name - the promotion landed, the kids are healthy, the calendar is full, and still something feels off. Or maybe a transition has knocked the ground loose: a move, a new marriage, a divorce, an empty house, a loss that rearranged everything. ## You are doing everything right and still wondering if this is it. From the outside, your life works. The job gets done, the people around you are fine, and there is nothing obvious to point at and say, that is the problem. But inside there is a flatness you cannot explain - a restlessness that shows up on Sunday nights, in quiet moments in the car, in the gap between what your days look like and how they actually feel. You keep waiting for the feeling to pass on its own, and it does not. Maybe it is the decision you have circled for months or years. You have made the pros-and-cons list a dozen times, asked everyone you trust, and still talked yourself out of the thing you actually want before you ever tried it. The self-doubt is loudest exactly when the stakes matter most, so another season goes by looking a lot like the last one. Or maybe a transition rearranged everything - a move, a new marriage, a divorce, an empty house, a loss. The version of yourself that made sense in the old chapter does not quite fit the new one, and you are left unsure who you are now or what comes next. These are the struggles people carry into Personal Growth Therapy, and they are exactly what we work through together. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Personal Growth Therapy You keep talking yourself out of the thing you actually want. The decisions pile up, the internal commentary gets louder, and another season goes by looking a lot like the last one. You might be looking for therapy because you're: - Successful on paper and **unsatisfied in practice** - **Adjusting to a move** or major change in your environment - **Getting married**, or going through a **divorce or separation** - **Grieving a significant loss** or ending - **Questioning your identity**, purpose, or direction - Feeling **stuck** or uncertain about what comes next ## band-navy Personal Growth Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT can help! You leave Personal Growth Therapy feeling like yourself again - not who you used to be, but who you are becoming. You start with a clear inventory of the strengths already there, because most people underestimate theirs badly. From there you set goals concrete enough to measure, so progress is something you can see rather than something you hope you feel. Between sessions you practice new skills, and each session builds on what actually happened rather than what should have happened, so you keep moving forward instead of starting over. ## Benefits of Personal Growth Therapy What changes is rarely dramatic at first. Decisions get faster. The internal commentary gets kinder and quieter. Boundaries stop feeling like conflict and start feeling like clarity. You stop rehearsing conversations for days and start having them. Clarity tends to arrive before certainty does, and that is usually enough to move. ## My Approach for Personal Growth Therapy I have worked with so many people in the Salt Lake City area. The first few sessions of Personal Growth Therapy get specific. We name the fears quietly running the show, then test them against reality instead of arguing with them. We clarify what you actually want rather than what sounds acceptable out loud. We map the pattern and name what it is costing you - in time, in relationships, in opportunities you talked yourself out of. My approach is warm, collaborative, and Humanistic - grounded in the belief that you don't need everything figured out before you begin. That means you are treated as the expert on your own life. I am not here to hand you a prefabricated answer or tell you who to become. I bring the training, the structure, and the honest questions - you bring the history, the values, and the instincts that have carried you this far. Sessions stay practical. We talk about what actually happened that week, what you tried, what got in the way, and what to do differently. Insight matters, but insight without action is just an interesting conversation, so we aim for both. So let's get started! Any worthwhile journey starts with a single step. Come see if I am a good fit for you! ## Reach out to a Personal Growth Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
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Family Therapy in Salt Lake City, UTPerfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens
Growing up is hard for everyone - especially kids! Their world is bigger and faster than the one their parents grew up in, and they are expected to handle it with a brain that is still under construction. School, sports, friendships, and an entire social life that lives inside their phone all compete for the same limited attention, and somewhere in that noise they are supposed to figure out who they are. The pressure to perform - in the classroom, on the field, and online - never really turns off, and perfectionism is often the way they try to keep a handle on all of it. ## The door closes after school and you are left guessing. At home it usually looks smaller than it feels. As a parent, you get one-word answers and a headline instead of the story. Then something small - a lost charger, a change of plans - turns into a meltdown that clearly is not about the charger. Asking directly tends to make it worse. You watch them carry weight you cannot see and fix problems they will not name, and every attempt to help gets received as another thing to push against. ## Here's some reasons you could benefit from Perfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens Kids who could benefit from Kids and Teens Therapy may be: - **Shutting down** or answering everything with "I'm fine" - **Anxious** about school, friends, or the future - **Struggling socially** or feeling left out - **Glued to a screen** and disconnected from the room - **Losing sleep**, motivation, or interest in what they used to love - **Comparing themselves** to everyone on their phone ## band-navy Perfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens in Salt Lake City, UT can help! Change is possible, and it starts with one honest conversation. Your child does not have to keep shutting down, melting down over small things, or lying awake at night replaying every awkward moment. You do not have to keep walking on eggshells at home or guessing whether this is a phase that will pass. Therapy helps them name what they are feeling, build real skills for anxiety and anger, and rebuild their confidence - and it helps you reconnect with the kid you know is still in there. It gives them a place where the pressure comes off, where they can say the things they cannot say to you yet, and where someone is in their corner without an agenda. Families get clear check-ins, honest guidance, and a plan they can actually follow at home. Families who do this work start seeing it in small ways first: easier mornings, fewer blowups, and conversations that do not end in a slammed door. ## Benefits of Perfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens You see it in small things first. A hard day stops turning into a lost week. They can name what they are feeling instead of slamming a door. Sleep gets better, the mornings get easier, and they start bringing you the story instead of the headline. School stops feeling like a performance they have to survive, and the phone stops being the only place they feel okay. They leave with skills for anxiety and anger they can actually use, and you get your kid back in the room - laughing at dinner, complaining about chores again, and telling you about their day without being asked twice. That is what change looks like for a family doing this work: - **Fewer meltdowns** over the small stuff - and faster recovery when they happen - **Real words for big feelings** instead of door slams and one-word answers - **Better sleep** and easier mornings before school - **Confidence** that does not depend on being perfect - **Skills for anxiety and anger** they can use at school, at home, and online - **A warmer relationship** - they come to you with the story, not just the headline ## My Approach for Perfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens They do not have to want therapy on day one. Most do not. My job is to make the room worth showing up to. In Perfectionism Therapy for Kids and Teens, the first session is mostly about safety and joining. They get to set some of the terms - what we talk about first, what we leave alone for now. From there we name feelings before we try to manage them, because you cannot regulate something you cannot describe. Then we build practical skills for anxiety, anger, and sleep, and we practice the hard conversations - with me first, then with you. Homework stays small enough to actually get done. I have worked with numerous families in the Salt Lake area. Parents get regular check-ins. Your child gets real privacy about the day-to-day, and I will always tell you anything that involves their safety. That balance is what makes them willing to talk in the first place. So let's get started! Any worthwhile journey starts with a single step. Come see if I am a good fit for your family! ## Reach out to a Kids and Teens Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT today!
Open →If any of these sound like you, you are in the right place.
Real people, real change.
"Hugh is fantastic and has real empathy for those he treats."
Colleague and Local Doctor
Utah
"Hugh is such a pleasure to work with. He is a kind, understanding and sympathetic listener. I really appreciate his insights. 10/10 would recommend!"
Colleague
Virginia
"Hugh is dedicated to helping people and is the best at what he does. He will do what it takes to help you become the best version of yourself!"
Colleague
Utah
Three simple steps to get started.
Request a FREE 15-minute consultation
Not sure if I'm the right one for you? Reach out by phone, text, or email and let's find a time that works to see if we're a fit! We will talk through what brought you here and what you're looking for!
Request your free 15-minute consult →Schedule your first session
If it feels like a fit, let's get to work! We'll set up your first 50- or 90-minute session — by telehealth in Utah or Virginia. We'll get to know the issue, set goals and get a clear direction.
Begin the work
Here we go! We name your goals, identify the patterns keeping you stuck, and start building the skills that move you forward, whether that's in your own life, your relationship or your family.
Ready to speak with a Couples Therapist in Salt Lake City, UT?
The first step is a free 15-minute call. No pressure, no paperwork. Just a real conversation about whether we are a fit.