About Authentic Marriages
Meet our FoundersWe are Jared and Kaara, the co-founders of Authentic Marriages, a Christian, relationship ministry, designed to promote emotionally and spiritually healthy marriages globally. With over 20 years of combined professional experience in the mental health field working with individuals, families and couples. We’ve been together for 25 years and married for 20 and have two kids, ages 11 and 13. Through the course of our relationship have successfully navigated some of the same challenges you face in your marriage! We understand the challenges of the busy couple who miss each other…who feel like roommates…who feel too busy to connect. We get it…and we get you!
At Authentic Marriages, we believe marriage is worth fighting for especially Black marriages. We believe couples deserve spaces where honesty is welcomed, healing is possible, and growth is supported without shame.
The TruthAbout Marriage
Many couples are quietly struggling in marriages that feel heavy, disconnected, or lonely. Pride, fear of judgment, and the risk of public humiliation often keep us from asking for help. Honest conversations about marital challenges are avoided, even among close friends, family, and within the church.
Over time, this silence creates an unsafe environment for vulnerability. Couples feel pressured to present a polished version of their marriage while carrying private pain behind closed doors. When we live behind a mask, connection erodes. Isolation grows. And marriages that long for healing are left unsupported.
Anyone can be married… but, not, everyone is happily married! Our goal is to build emotionally and spiritually healthy marriages.
Authentic MarriagesWhat makes us different?
Collaborative Expertise: Benefit from the combined insight of a licensed couples therapist and a double board-certified psychiatrist, husband-wife team, working together for your relationship.
Relationship & Individual Insight: We help you understand both the patterns between you and the experiences within each of you that influence how you love, communicate, and respond.
Evidence-Based, Personalized Care: Our recommendations are grounded in proven clinical approaches such as Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and EMDR which are tailored specifically to your relationship—not a predetermined formula.
Beyond Symptom Management: Our goal isn't simply to reduce conflict. It's to help you build deeper understanding, stronger connection, and a healthier marriage that lasts.
Are you ready to take the first step towards a more fulfilling relationship?
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Are you ready to take the first step towards a better you?
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Are you ready to take the first step towards a better you?
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Are you ready to take the first step towards a more fulfilling relationship? - Are you ready to take the first step towards a better you? - Are you ready to take the first step towards a better you? -
MoreAbout Us
Curious to know more about us?
Before we were therapists, psychiatrist, speakers, or business owners...
We were simply two people who fell in love.
Jared grew up in Jamaica. Kaara grew up in Trinidad. We met over 25 years ago, built a life together, and eventually made Atlanta our home. Along the way we've navigated the same kinds of challenges every couple faces…misunderstandings, stressful seasons, raising children, balancing careers, and learning that a healthy marriage isn't something you find...it's something you intentionally build.
Our different personalities keep life interesting.
It's iPhone versus Android.
Carolina versus Duke.
And we're still debating which island has the best food (Kaara insists it's Trinidad!).
Fortunately, those are the easy disagreements.
The things that matter most is our faith, our family, and our commitment to one another. And that has always been worth protecting. That conviction eventually became something bigger than our own marriage.
We realized that many couples don't need someone to tell them they should love each other more. They need someone to help them understand why they keep getting stuck in the same painful patterns and how to find their way back to one another.
That's why we created Authentic Marriages.
Not because we have a perfect marriage.
But because we believe marriages are worth fighting for, healing is possible, and healthy relationships can change the course of a family for generations.
Today, every couple we meet reminds us why we do this work. It's a privilege to walk alongside people during some of the hardest moments of their lives and watch hope begin to grow again.
Authentic Marriages
Here atOne thing you'll quickly learn about us—we're committed to keeping it real.
Nothing is off limits.
We don't believe in presenting a fairytale version of marriage or pretending healthy relationships don't require hard work. Every marriage experiences seasons of joy, disappointment, connection, conflict, and growth. That's normal. We want to create a space where couples can have honest conversations about the things that often go unspoken—the conversations that feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, or even scary.
We believe those are often the conversations that lead to the greatest healing.
Our heart is to equip couples with practical tools, deeper understanding, and renewed hope so they can build marriages that are healthy, resilient, and deeply connected. For couples who share our faith, we also believe marriage is a sacred covenant—one worth investing in, protecting, and continually growing.
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