You replay conversations and wonder if you said something wrong when a friendship feels “off.

You feel hurt, left out, or replaced when friends get together without you or become closer to someone else.
You’re tired of being the one who reaches out, makes the plans, or puts more effort into keeping he friendship going.
You avoid saying when something hurts because you’re afraid conflict will make the friendship end.
You’re grieving a friendship breakup, growing apart from someone, or realizing a friendship isn’t what it used to be.

Friendship struggles can hurt just as deeply as romantic relationship struggles and you don figure them out alone.

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Friendship Therapy in Denver, Colorado

You care deeply about your friendships, but no one really teaches us how to navigate rejection, boundaries, jealousy, conflict, changing closeness, or friendship breakups

Contact me for a free consulation

Here Are Some Reasons You Could Benefit From Friendship Therapy

You overthink texts, invitations, changes in tone, or whether someone is upset with you.
You people-please, overextend yourself, or have trouble setting boundaries because you don’t want to disappoint your friends.
You keep your feelings to yourself until resentment builds or you start pulling away.
You’re questioning whether a friendship is mutual, healthy, or something you’ve simply outgrown.
You want deeper friendships but struggle to move from acquaintances and surface-level connections to real closeness.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Through therapy, you can work toward:

Feeling confident bringing up hurt feelings or difficult conversations.
Setting boundaries without immediately feeling guilty or afraid someone will leave.
Building friendships that feel mutual instead of constantly wondering whether you care more.
Handling changes in closeness, life stages, and friendship dynamics without losing yourself.
Creating deeper, more authentic friendships where you can actually be yourself.

The goal isn't to never experience friendship conflict, rejection, or change. It's to feel more confident navigating it when it happens.

Benefits of Therapy for Friendships

Friendship problems aren't “dramatic” or too small to bring to therapy.
Look at the patterns that keep showing up across friendships—not just who was right or wrong in one situation.
Explore what happens when you feel excluded, disappointed, hurt, jealous, or unsure where you stand.
Help you identify what you actually want to say, where you need boundaries, and whether youwant to repair, redefine, or step away from a friendship.
Build confidence in creating the kinds of friendships and community you want moving forward.

If friendships have become a source of overthinking, hurt, loneliness, or confusion, therapy can give you a place to finally talk about it.

My Approach to Friendship Therapy

What The first few Sessions Look like

1. We Build Safety First

In our first session, we'll meet together and talk about what brings you to couples therapy, what feels difficult right now, and what you both hope will change

Before we jump into changing anything, I want to get to know you.
That means building trust, creating a space where you don't feel judged, and helping you feel comfortable enough to be honest about what's really going on.
I know therapy can feel vulnerable, so I don't expect you to tell me everything on day one.
We'll move at a pace that feels safe.

2. We Get Curious

One thing you'll probably notice is that I ask a lot of questions. Not because I'm looking for the "right" answer... But because I genuinely want to understand you.

After that, I typically meet with each partner individually. This gives me a chance to better understand each of your experiences,

We'll explore things like:

your relationships
your family
your childhood
your emotional experiences
the ways you've learned to cope
what your nervous system has experienced
what has shaped who you are today

I'm less interested in asking "What's wrong with you? "I'm much more interested in asking,"What happened to you?" and "how did the relationships in your life influence the way you connect with others today?"

3. We Begin Connecting the Dots

In our third session, we'll come back together and recap what I've learned so we can start making sense of the patterns happening between you.

As I get to know you, I'll start noticing patterns.

I'll often share observations like,

"I'm wondering if these two experiences might be connected."or "This actually makes a lot of sense given what you've been through."
This is where I bring in psychoeducation, attachment theory, EMDR, IFS, neuroscience, and relational research.
Not to overwhelm you with information… But to help you understand yourself, gain self-awareness with more compassion for yourself and your relationships.

4. We Build Awareness

Understanding yourself doesn't automatically create change. But awareness changes everything. Once we can recognize patterns... we're no longer stuck reacting automatically.

Instead we can slow things down and ask:

What am I feeling?
What am I needing?
Where did I learn this?
Is this response still serving me today?

That awareness creates choice.

5. We Practice Something Different & Keep Practicing (it takes time)

Healing isn't just insight. It's creating new experiences.

Together we'll begin experimenting with new ways of:

communicating
setting boundaries
regulating emotions
asking for needs
responding during conflict
relating to yourself
relating to the people you love

Over time those new experiences begin creating new patte. Because these patterns were often developed over many years, meaningful change doesn't happen overnight. It happens through consistent practice, repetition, and new relational experiences. Over time, those new experiences begin to feel more natural, creating lasting change both in your relationships and within yourself.

MEET YOUR DENVER FRIENDSHIP THERAPIST

Hi, I'm Rachel but you can call me Ray

As a licensed relationship therapist in Denver, I help young adults navigate friendship conflict, changing friendships, boundaries, friendship breakups, and the confusing feeling of not knowing where you stand with someone.

We spend so much of our lives in friendships, yet nobody really teaches us how to navigate them when things get complicated.

I’m passionate about helping people understand their friendship patterns and build relationships where they feel secure, connected, and able to be themselves.

"I wholeheartedly recommend Rachel Sailer for couples, families, or individuals seeking therapy. She brings a rare combination of clinical skill, warmth, and authenticity to her practice. Her ability to create a safe, nonjudgmental space allows clients to explore difficult emotions while feeling genuinely supported and understood. You are in excellent hands with Rachel."

With Love From: Chloé

"HER ABILITY TO CREATE A SAFE, NONJUDGMENTAL SPACE ALLOWS CLIENTS TO EXPLORE DIFFICULT EMOTIONS WHILE FEELING GENUINELY SUPPORTED AND UNDERSTOOD."

"Rachel brings authenticity, dedication, and a genuine desire to help her clients into her clinical work. Her attachment and systemic-based approach helps clients heal and grow in a safe and well-informed space." -

With Love From: Sophie

"HER ATTACHMENT AND SYSTEMIC-BASED APPROACH HELPS CLIENTS HEAL AND GROW IN A SAFE AND WELL-INFORMED SPACE."

"Rachel is among the most dedicated and passionate clinicians I've had the pleasure of working with. She is constantly adding new knowledge and skills to her attachment-based approach, making her an adept therapist for couples, parents, and individuals."

With Love From: Jeremy

"SHE IS CONSTANTLY ADDING NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO HER ATTACHMENT-BASED APPROACH, MAKING HER AN ADEPT THERAPIST FOR COUPLES, PARENTS, AND INDIVIDUALS."

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Frequently Asked Questions ABout Friendship Therapy

What is friendship therapy?

We spend so much of our lives in friendships, but no one really teaches us how to be a friend or navigate friendships as they change. For many of us, our friends even become our chosen family.

Friendship therapy creates a space to actually talk about these relationships and how much they impact us. We might explore how you learned to “do” friendship, the people you choose to be close to, expectations and boundaries, conflict, making new friends, friendship breakups, or what happens when you and your friends enter different stages of life.

We can also talk about the complicated stuff that doesn't always have an obvious place to go—balancing friendships with romantic relationships, feeling left out, navigating weddings and friend groups, maintaining childhood or college friendships, or deciding whether a friendship still fits who you are today.

Friendship therapy can be individual, where we focus on your friendship patterns and relationships, or I can work with two friends together who want support navigating their relationship.

Because friendships are relationships too and sometimes they deserve their own space in therapy.

I offer a free 20-minute consultation where we can talk about what’s bringing you to couples therapy, what you’re looking for, and whether we could be a good fit.

Not sure what to look for in a therapist? Check out my guide for finding the right therapist in Denver.

How many therapy sessions will we need?

As a starting point, I recommend planning for around 10–20 sessions, depending on what you’re working through and the changes you want to make. Every person is different, so there isn’t a set number of sessions that works for everyone.

I also encourage individuals to give a new therapist around 1–5 sessions to see how the fit feels. Finding the right therapist can take time, and I want you to find the therapist who feels right for both of you even if that isn't me. Sometimes therapy isn’t working because one or both of you don’t feel safe, heard, or understood, or one friend connects with the therapist while the other doesn’t.

The right fit matters. Both of you should feel like there is space for your perspective and that your therapist understands your relationship not just one side of it.

How can friendship therapy help?

Friendships can bring up a lot feeling left out, not knowing where you stand, struggling to set boundaries, avoiding conflict, feeling like you’re always giving more, or wondering whether you’ve simply outgrown a friendship.

Friendship therapy can help you better understand your patterns in friendships, communicate more directly, navigate conflict and changing expectations, and figure out what you want your friendships to look and feel like.

It can also be a space to process friendship breakups, making friends as an adult, different stages of life, balancing friendships with romantic relationships, or deciding when a friendship is worth repairing and when it may be time to let go.

Do you offer in-person and virtual couples therapy?

Yes! I offer both in-person and virtual therapy to give you options for what works best with your schedules.

I offer in-person sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays and virtual sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays 10:00 AM–6:00 PM

We can talk during your free consultation about which option works best for you.

What are your fees, and do you accept insurance?

I am a private-pay practice and do not accept insurance.

(50 minutes Session: $160
(90 minutes) Session $240

If you have out-of-network benefits, I'm happy to provide a monthly superbill that you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. I also offer a free 15-minute consultation so we can discuss your goals, answer your questions, and see if we're a good fit before scheduling your first session.

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