Couples come to therapy from many different places. Common reasons include:

• Communication breakdowns and recurring conflict that don’t resolve on their own
• Emotional disconnection — feeling more like roommates than partners
• Affair recovery and betrayal trauma
• Trauma affecting the relationship — when PTSD in one or both partners is eroding connection, trust, or felt safety
• Intimacy issues — emotional and/or physical
• Life transitions — new child, career change, relocation, loss
• Pre-marital counseling — building a strong foundation before committing
• Proactive investment — not in crisis, but wanting to strengthen what you have

You don’t need to be in acute distress to benefit from couples therapy. Some of the most productive work happens with partners who recognize an opportunity and invest in it before patterns become entrenched.

The Gottman Method is one of the most extensively researched approaches to couples therapy in existence, developed by Drs. John and Julie Gottman through more than four decades of studying thousands of couples. The research identified specific behavioral patterns — including the “Four Horsemen” of criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling — that predict relationship deterioration with high accuracy, as well as the specific skills and behaviors that characterize stable, satisfying relationships.

The approach is organized around the Sound Relationship House — a seven-level framework covering friendship, conflict management, shared meaning, trust, and commitment. Therapy uses a structured assessment to identify a couple’s specific strengths and vulnerabilities, then builds a personalized treatment plan targeting those areas with evidence-based interventions.

It is practical and structured, not vague or insight-only. Couples leave sessions with specific skills and tools — not just a better understanding of the problem.

Affair recovery using the Gottman Method is a structured, phased protocol — not generic couples therapy applied to a crisis situation. It moves through three phases:

• Atone — The unfaithful partner takes full responsibility. The impact of the betrayal is acknowledged without minimization, and the injured partner’s trauma response is validated and directly supported.
• Attune — Both partners work to understand the relational context that preceded the affair — not to excuse it, but to understand what needs were unmet and begin rebuilding emotional safety and connection.
• Attach — The couple makes an informed decision about the relationship’s future. If they choose to rebuild, this phase works toward renewed commitment and a more intentional, deepened connection.

The model treats the injured partner’s trauma response as a genuine clinical priority — not a side issue. Affair recovery is not a guarantee that the relationship survives. It is a process that gives both partners the tools and space to make that decision thoughtfully, with support.

PTSD — whether rooted in childhood, previous relationships, or other life experiences — doesn’t stay contained in the person carrying it. Gottman research documents how trauma systematically affects every level of the Sound Relationship House: emotional numbing disrupts Love Maps, hypervigilance generates conflict and seeds mistrust, avoidance and fear of vulnerability erodes Turning Toward, and the inability to envision a shared future breaks down Shared Meaning.

The non-PTSD partner bears their own weight: confusion over oscillating moods, hurt at being shut out, exhaustion from trying to stabilize something that feels out of control, and sometimes secondary trauma of their own.

The Gottman approach treats this as a relational issue alongside an individual one — addressing both the symptoms and the damage to the couple’s connection simultaneously, because individual treatment alone leaves the relationship — and often the non-PTSD partner — largely unaddressed.

Gottman Method therapy begins with a structured assessment before active treatment starts:

• Session 1 — Conjoint: Both partners attend together to cover the relationship’s history, current concerns, and the arc of your connection over time.
• Sessions 2 & 3 — Individual: Each partner meets with me separately — one session each — to speak candidly about personal history and individual experience of the relationship. These sessions are confidential and not reported back to the other partner.
• Gottman Relationship Checkup: Each partner independently completes a 337-item, research-validated questionnaire assessing the relationship across all levels of the Sound Relationship House. One-time fee: $39.
• Feedback Session — Conjoint: Both partners return together to review the Checkup results and build a personalized treatment plan — specific goals, prioritized Sound Relationship House levels, and the interventions most relevant to your situation.

Ongoing sessions proceed from the treatment plan, with frequency adjusted as you progress.

The Gottman Relationship Checkup is a 337-item, research-validated online questionnaire completed independently by each partner. It assesses the relationship across all seven levels of the Sound Relationship House — friendship, conflict patterns, emotional connection, shared meaning, trust, and commitment — as well as individual wellbeing factors that influence how each person shows up in the relationship.

Because each partner completes it separately, the results capture both individual perspectives and — critically — where those perspectives diverge. That divergence is often where the most clinically important information lives, allowing the feedback session to be targeted and specific rather than exploratory.

The one-time fee is $39, billed at the start of treatment and covering both partners’ access.

AO-Counseling is currently in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Curative, Aetna, Cigna and Evernorth.

It’s worth knowing that most insurance plans do not cover couples therapy unless one partner carries a recognized mental health diagnosis being actively treated within the session. I’m happy to discuss your specific situation and help you understand what your plan may cover.

Superbills are available for out-of-network reimbursement. Direct-pay options are available, and new direct-pay clients may qualify for a significant discount on the first four sessions.

• Couples sessions: $120 per 55-minute session
• Extended couples sessions: $180 per 90-minute session — recommended for trauma-focused work, affair recovery, and sessions addressing significant relational ruptures, where additional time allows for a complete arc of engagement, meaningful clinical work, and adequate space to stabilize before the session ends
• Gottman Relationship Checkup: one-time $39 fee at the start of treatment, covering both partners
• New direct-pay clients receive a 50% discount on their first four sessions (telehealth and Heights location only; may not be combined with other offers)
• Sliding scale may be available for those with demonstrated financial need

If cost is a barrier, reach out directly — I’m happy to discuss what options may be available.

Yes — and it can still be genuinely useful. Individual therapy focused on relationship dynamics can help you understand your own patterns, improve how you communicate and respond, and make more intentional decisions about where things go. One partner changing how they show up often meaningfully shifts the relational dynamic, even without the other present.

That said, couples therapy is most effective with both partners participating. If your partner is hesitant, sometimes a single informational session with no ongoing commitment can reduce that apprehension. Feel free to reach out to discuss your situation.

Yes. Telehealth couples sessions are available across Texas via a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. Both partners typically participate from the same location, though separate-location sessions can be arranged when needed.

The 50% new direct-pay client discount applies to telehealth and in-person clients based in the Heights office.