Skip to content Skip to footer
M.Ed., Ed.S., LPC, CGP
Menu Close
Close
M.Ed., Ed.S., LPC, CGP

Helping Couples Reconnect and Thrive

Sharilyn Hafkin is a licensed therapist and couples consultant who works with driven couples seeking deeper connection through focused, intentional therapeutic work.

Sound familiar? Hang in there!
I can help

Sharilyn Hafkin is a licensed therapist and couples consultant who helps high-performing partners strengthen their relationship through focused, intensive work. Drawing from advanced couples therapy models and executive-style consulting, she supports couples in building resilient, aligned, and emotionally mature partnerships.

How We Begin

Getting started is simple and intentional

Initial Contact

01

The first step is to reach out by email or phone. From there, we schedule a 20-minute video consultation.

Joint Video Consultation

02

This call is designed to ensure we’re a good fit and that The Intensive is the right next step for you. Both partners attend this call together.​

An Orientation, Not Therapy

03

During our time, you’ll briefly share what you’re hoping to work on, and I’ll walk you through my process, which includes what to expect from our two-day intensive, why I work in this format, and how this structure supports meaningful, lasting change.

Continuing the Work

04

At the end, you’ll take time to talk privately as a couple. If you decide you’d like to move forward, you’ll email me, and we’ll schedule your intensive.

Meet Your Therapist

Sharilyn Hafkin works with high-achieving couples who want their relationship to function with the same integrity, clarity, and intention as the rest of their lives.
Her work is focused and directive, designed for partners who are ready to address entrenched patterns and create meaningful, lasting change.

Her approach blends depth psychology with a consulting-informed lens, helping couples build partnerships grounded in accountability, emotional maturity, and mutual respect.

For more than 15 years, I have worked at the intersection of psychology, relationships, and
high-stakes decision-making. My training in psychodynamic psychotherapy, group dynamics, and crisis work allows me to stay steady, discerning, and precise particularly in complex or emotionally charged situations.

My work is informed by years of sitting with individuals and couples as they navigate power, intimacy, conflict, and change. I am known for offering a clear perspective and direct feedback, often using metaphor, humor and plain language to surface dynamics that are difficult to see from within a relationship. Clients often describe my presence as calm, grounded, and incisive.

Earlier in my career, I trained as a journalist, an experience that sharpened my ability to listen closely for what is said and what is not. I have also spent many years facilitating long-term process groups, which deepened my understanding of interpersonal systems and relational patterns over time.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent years as a competitive gymnast and later became the first girl to join my high school’s varsity wrestling team. I studied journalism at the University of Florida and later trained as a psychotherapist that helped shape how I listen, think and work. Outside the office, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with my husband on our honeymoon, received a Survivor callback just before the world shut down in 2020, and am now raising two young daughters while attempting to sew an overly ambitious, Chanel-inspired jacket.

Your Investment

From Clarity to Change

Day One

The Loop

You and your partner arrive at my office just outside Washington, DC, ready for focused work.

Each of you takes turns sharing your concerns, longings, and hopes for your relationship. We slow things down so both voices are fully heard and understood.

In the afternoon, each of you tells your personal story. We look at how earlier experiences shape present-day reactions and expectations in your relationship.

By the end of the day, your dynamic is clearly named and understood. You leave with shared language, insight, and a sense of how and why things have been breaking down.

Tonight is about integration, not continuation. Share a good meal, keep things gentle and low-stakes, and allow your nervous systems time to settle. Rest well so tomorrow begins from steadiness rather than momentum.

Day Two

The Shift

We begin by revisiting the insights from Day One and orienting toward change.

You learn how to recognize the moment your reactive, impulsive patterns take over and how to pause before they cause more damage.

We focus on practical tools, techniques, and real-life interventions that help you respond from the grounded, adult part of yourselves rather than from fear, defense, or urgency.

You practice these skills in session, with guidance and support, so they translate into your daily life, not just the therapy room.

We consolidate what you’ve learned and clarify how to continue the work after the intensive, whether through follow-up sessions or intentional practice on your own.

 
 
 
 

The Value of an Intensive

A two-day intensive offers a level of depth, precision, and momentum that weekly therapy cannot replicate. Over the course of approximately 10 hours, we identify the core pain points in your marriage: the deeper wounds, emotional triggers, and relational patterns that can often take four to six months to surface in traditional weekly work. By staying immersed in the work, nothing is lost between sessions. There is no restarting, no re-orienting, and no dilution of focus. We hold both the broad architecture of your relationship and the highly specific moments that cause breakdowns, allowing us to move efficiently to the heart of what matters most. Like a sustained ascent, progress comes not from repeated starts, but from staying in motion. The continuity of the intensive allows insight to build, patterns to clarify, and meaningful change to occur. Clients often find that more is accomplished in these two days than in months of weekly therapy.

Programs and Gatherings

Workshop 1

The Beauty of a Boundary

Boundaries are often misunderstood as walls, ultimatums, or emotional withdrawal. In this 20–25 minute talk, participants explore how clear, loving limits actually protect connection, reduce resentment, prevent escalation, and create a sense of safety in close relationships. Through humor, metaphor, and real-life examples, I offer a practical way to recognize where boundaries are needed, how to express them without conflict, and why they deepen intimacy rather than threaten it. The conversation is engaging and interactive, leaving attendees with a clearer sense of self-respect and a more confident, compassionate way of staying connected.

Workshop 2

How to Fight Right

Conflict is inevitable in close relationships; damage is not. This short, engaging talk introduces the timeout as a practical way to interrupt escalation before it takes over and is designed to help couples step out of reactivity and return to conversation with clarity and accountability. Drawing on everyday relationship moments and practical illustrations, participants learn how to recognize when they’re no longer relational, how to take a timeout that actually works, and how to re-enter the conversation in a way that restores connection rather than deepens the fight. The workshop is interactive, approachable, and immediately applicable, offering couples a simple “pause button” they can use to protect their relationship in moments that matter most.

Your First Step

Reaching out is often the hardest part.

Whether you’re feeling uncertain, hopeful, overwhelmed, or simply ready for support, I’m here to make this process easy and grounded from the very beginning.

I look forward to connecting with you & helping you take the next step toward real change.

Make a call

Client inquiries

202–768–9432

E-mail

Email inquiries

sharilyn@sharilynwhafkin.com