What can you expect when you engage in Couple’s Therapy?
The First Session
Initial Couple’s Assessment
This initial session is a time for your therapist to get to know you and your partner as a couple. They will take information about your history together, discuss your goals for therapy, and observe how you interact with one another as a couple. This first session also includes a comprehensive online assessment that you and your partner will complete outside of your session time.
SESSION TWO AND THREE
Individual Assessment
The next phase of couple’s therapy assessment is the individual session. You and your partner will each attend a session individually so that your therapist can take a personal history and explore your relationship challenges and strengths from your individual perspective. This gives your therapist the opportunity to understand your individual history and what that brings to your relational dynamics.
SESSION FOUR
The Treatment Plan
This session is when your therapist will present to you their initial findings and your customized treatment plan. This will be your roadmap to therapy.
FAQS
Why is an assessment important?
It will provide your therapist invaluable information about you and your partner as a couple. This will help them support you in reaching your goals which may include strategies for more effective communication, deepening your friendship, developing effective co-parenting strategies, improved physical and emotional intimacy, or rebuilding trust. The findings from the assessment phase of treatment allow your therapist to create a custom treatment plan to support you and your partner in addressing the concerns you bring to this work as well as identifying the strengths that already exist that you can continue to build on.
Can we skip the assessment if we don’t want it?
No. Evidence-based practice and ethical standards require us to conduct a thorough assessment that helps us understand the over-all context of our clients’ presenting issues. Forgoing an assessment is like skipping your blood work at the doctor and guessing the appropriate dose of medication that you need. The better we understand the issue the more we can support you in finding the remedy. A thorough assessment leads to better therapy outcomes.
How many sessions will we need to attend?
Clients with a specific short-term goal such as premarital counseling or addressing one specific event or issue may engage in therapy for an additional 3-5 sessions beyond the assessment phase of treatment. Other couples with more complex histories or presenting issues may engage in a longer course of treatment that will allow them to work through more challenging or long-standing concerns. On average, most couples engage in therapy for 10-20 sessions.
Cost
First session is $230
All subsequent sessions $190