There are several very important factors in choosing your Couples Therapist.
Your therapist should make you feel welcome and comfortable. After a first session, you both should feel heard and understood.
The therapist should have advanced training in Couples Therapy, such as a Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy. He or she should specialize in Couples Therapy. Not all therapists are trained in Couples Therapy and so, it’s important to ask what type of training they have. It can be downright hazardous to your relationship to work with a therapist who lacks specialized training and experience with couples.
More than 80% of their caseload should be working with couples.
The therapist should be marriage-friendly and dedicated to helping marriages succeed, if at all possible.
Look for someone who seeks to track and improve the outcome of their therapy work on a client-by-client basis. Your therapist should work collaboratively with you to verify you’re reaching your goals, using concrete measures.
We would love to say that couples counseling always works. Unfortunately, nobody can guarantee you will get the results you seek. What we can say is that when two willing people work on their relationship with a well-trained, unbiased third party, therapy works on average four times better than no therapy at all.
At Together Couples Counseling, we track and constantly seek to improve our clients’ treatment outcomes. We do this in collaboration with our clients, so we know if they’re reaching their goals. We’re in the process of analyzing data from our Feedback-Informed Treatment protocol and initial data show our clients’ results are far better than average.
What if my spouse/partner doesn’t want to go to therapy?
In many cases, one partner wants therapy and the other does not. Because we are Marriage and Family Therapists, we can assist you with your relationships, even when you’re the only one present in therapy. In Marriage and Family Therapy, the unit of treatment isn’t just the individual client – even if only one person is present – it’s the set of that person’s relationships. Please call us at 10-440-1413 to talk about your unique situation, so we can guide you in a direction that will give you support and help, even if your partner doesn’t want to come to therapy.
No. We provide individual and family therapy as well. Please call us at 443-583-4675 so we can talk and see if our practice is the right fit for the help you’re seeking.
The standard session length is 45-50 minutes for all our therapists, though the first session will last an hour. We also offer 90-minute extended sessions, which can be helpful if you want to delve deeper into issues and make more rapid progress. Please talk with your therapist if this is something you would like to arrange.
How many sessions should we expect to need?
The average is 8-12 sessions. Note that typically, couples feel better after the first two or three sessions, experiencing some relief from their symptoms. However, we want you to have lasting change, and that typically occurs after 9-10 sessions. The number of sessions needed is unique to each person, couple, or family, and depends on the issues they seek to address. You and your therapist will discuss and determine the right number of sessions for your situation. It’s not uncommon for clients to come and go from therapy as needed, based on the ups and downs of their life. That’s what we’re here for!
Do I pay you or does my insurance company?
Clients pay the therapist at the beginning of each session.
Yes! Each therapist sets his or her own schedule, so it’s best to consult with your therapist to find out available appointment times. Some of our therapists do see clients in the evenings and on Saturdays.
Our office is located in Columbia, Maryland, near Wegmans and the Stanford Grill.
(1) 410-440-1413 Please call for details.