Did you know? By the time the average couple seeks outside, professional help for their relationship, the couple has been experiencing difficulties for 6 years. I can't help wondering how much lower the divorce rate would be in the United States if couples sought help earlier…

Are you in a relationship that's beginning to show wear and tear? Or are the problems much further along and you're headed for a marital crisis? Get help now! Call for a free phone consultation to learn if couples counseling is right for your situation. I will help you and your partner assess the severity of the problems in the marriage and whether I as a therapist am a good fit for working with you. I will discuss the approach I take when working with couples, and together we can decide the next steps.

I have been trained in the assessment, approach, and interventions developed by psychologist John Gottman, the leading researcher today on what really works to make a happy relationship. Counseling typically begins with an assessment, which includes sessions with both partners and individual sessions. Work is centered
around:

- Increasing respect, affection, and closeness
- Breaking through and resolving conflict when stuck
- Generating greater understanding between you and your partner
- Keeping conflict discussions calm
- Maintaining improvements in your relationship

To learn more about the Gottman Method Couples Therapy approach to helping couples, visit www.gottman.com.

Couples counseling may happen over 6 to 12 sessions or it may take much longer than that. This depends on your unique situation and what your goals are. Most couples will benefit from participating in several sessions over weeks, sometimes months. The time and money spent on this incredibly important relationship in your life should be considered an investment - in your partner, in your children if you have them, in your own happiness and fulfillment in life.

Payment for Sessions
Most if not all insurance companies will not provide reimbursement for the cost of couples counseling, despite the obvious mental health benefits to the individ

uals and the family of doing so. In order to have this form of counseling reimbursed by insurance, a therapist would have to determine - often in co

nsultation with the couple - which partner will carry a mental health diagnosis, so that the sessions can be coded and submitted to the insurance company. If a therapist cannot ethically assign a diagnosis of mental illness, the payment must be out-of-pocket.

As you may have seen elsewhere on this site, I do not accept third-party reimbursement (i.e., insurance) for therapy sessions. The primary reasons for this are:

• Paying "out of pocket" is the best way to ensure the complete confidentiality of your mental health and related personal information.
• It is helps avoid the restraints placed upon me and you by insurance companies in terms of the length of therapy and approaches that can be taken.
• It reduces paperwork for you and for me.