Couples Therapy

Counseling For Couples

If you’re wondering “Should we get couples counseling?”, you’re not alone. Nearly every couple has problems at one time or another. Getting therapy to improve your relationship can pave the way for a happier future.

Our couples counseling and marriage therapy services are available to married and non-married partners and LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA and same-sex couples. We offer:

• Marriage counseling
• Relationship therapy
• Premarital counseling
• Counseling for couples after an affair
• Counseling for couples dealing with addiction, alcohol dependency or abuse, and dependency on prescription or street drugs like heroin and meth
• Counseling for couples dealing with one partner’s use of marijuana
• Counseling for couples dealing with a mood disorder like anxiety, chronic depression or bipolar or borderline personality disorder
• Counseling for couples experiencing conflict over gaslighting, codependency and other relationship issues

How relationship counseling works

Each partner begins counseling with individual visits with their own Ascend therapist. These private sessions allow each person to feel more secure. It makes it easier to share your feelings and concerns more freely with your therapist. That in turn helps the therapist to better prepare you to tackle the problems in the relationship.

When the time is right, both partners and both therapists meet for joint sessions. We’ve found that when each client has “their” therapist there, the couple, as a whole, has better results.

Appointment options

Appointments can be in-person or via video conference.

Science-based techniques

We give couples proven evidence-based tools to break harmful patterns and develop healthier ones. By swapping harmful behaviors for healthier ones, disagreements can be resolved with less hurt and anger.

Repairing your relationship restores closeness and allows positive feelings for one another to re-emerge.

You’ll get plenty of practical strategies that you and your partner can start using immediately. For example:

• Learn how to be a better listener
• Learn how to communicate better
• Learn and practice rules for arguing respectfully
• Discover how to uncover the story you are telling yourself about a situation
• Get better at listening to your partner with less judgment

These are proven, research-based methods to help couples reconnect. With practice, these lead to better ways of resolving differences. This builds more goodwill within the relationship.

These techniques work in all kinds of situations, not only with your spouse or partner. These can be used with any close personal relationship.

How can I tell if my relationship is in trouble?

It’s natural to feel frustrated or angry with your partner. And a certain amount of disagreement or arguing is normal.

But the love between a couple can erode over time when the relationship is constantly under stress from:

• Constant arguing
• Arguments that don’t resolve, but repeat
• Resentments that surface over and over
• Personal attacks
• Lingering deeply hurt feelings or empathic breach

The most common relationship and marriage complaints

• My husband doesn’t listen to me
• We only talk about the kids and the bills – we don’t enjoy each other anymore
• We don’t fight that much, but I don’t feel happy
• I feel like I married a child who takes no responsibility
• They keep promising they’ll do better but then they start using again
• I don’t feel like we’re “in love” anymore
• Our sex life is vanishing or I feel like we’re experiencing “bed death”
• We used to be best friends but now we fight all the time
• I don’t feel safe and secure in my relationship anymore
• I feel like we’re just roommates
• She has her life, I have mine

With help, you can:

• Break unhealthy patterns
• Stop destructive habits
• Learn better ways to solve problems
• Feel more love in your relationship
• Feel secure in your partnership
• Feel more kindly towards each other

Watch for these red flags

• Abusive language
• Physical threats or violence
• Cheating, including emotional affairs
• You’d like to make a big change but you’re afraid of your partner’s reaction
• You’ve stopped caring about your relationship
• You are constantly critical of your partner (or your partner constantly criticizes you)
• The “silent treatment” is normal
• Your kids are afraid of your partner or avoid them
• You ignore each other for extended periods
• One or both of you has lost trust in the other
• You’ve stopped confiding in each other

What if substance abuse or mood disorders are involved?

When one partner is being treated for a serious problem, couples counseling can make a tough road a little easier. Even when both of you think you can “get through it together”, things can fall apart.

Alcoholism, drug and substance abuse, anger management and mood disorders are hard on relationships.  In fact, having these issues can make couples counseling even more helpful.

Counseling can help both partners handle the ups and downs that are common in these situations.

Of course, counseling is suitable for couples without those additional issues, too.  Anyone struggling with their relationship or marriage can reach out to us.

Frequently-asked questions

Is your counseling available to same-sex and/or non-married couples?

Absolutely. Our services are LGBTQ+ and LGBTQIA-friendly and benefit married partners, life partners and new partners equally.

I’ve heard that counseling takes a long time to help.

Our goal is always to help couples reach their best place as quickly as possible. We can usually offer highly useful tools that quickly help you start feeling and relating better right away. But it depends—relationship issues can be complex, and your specific situation might take more or less time to improve than someone else’s.

Is couples therapy covered by insurance?

We are in-network for most major insurers, so usually counseling is covered.

You can see our current self-pay rates here.

How long is each session?

Each appointment runs approximately fifty minutes.