We work with couples and families at different stages of their shared journey – dating, moving in together, marriage, contemplating separation or divorce, raising a family together, co-parenting, launching teens into adulthood, and adjusting to retirement.

Reasons to Seek Couples or Family Therapy

Here are a few reasons to schedule a relational therapy session:

• relationship conflicts
• communications challenges
• pre-marital counseling
• difficulties with in-laws and extended family members
• multi-ethnic and interracial relationships
• conflicts around monogamy and infidelity
• grief and loss of a child or loved one
• conflicts over major life decisions
• work/life balance in the relationship
• differing expectations around sex and intimacy
• transitioning to parenthood
• learning to co-parent successfully after a separation or divorce
• parenting difficulties

Our role is to facilitate healthy communication, support self-reflection and promote agency.

It’s not our job to take sides. Our approach is to align with each participant in the therapy session, facilitate understanding, and support clients in being heard and valued within their relationship or family. Often we conduct extended 75-minute sessions led by two co-therapists. This allows ample time for each participant to fully express themselves, supported by a collaborative team that can bring in multiple perspectives to support your therapeutic goals.

Couples often seek therapy to save their relationship – sometimes as a last resort before divorce. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to make meaningful changes in the relationship, particularly when one partner already has one foot out the door.  It is not our goal to keep couples together at all costs. Rather, we strive to support each participant in making the decisions that feel right for them, based on their values and preferences. Sometimes we are able to help couples and families remain intact. When this is not possible, we also facilitate respectful separations, particularly when children are involved and loving co-parenting becomes the ultimate goal.

If you are in a committed relationship but are not sure whether to stay with your partner, you might consider Discernment Counseling, which Mona has been trained in.

Can I use my insurance for couples or family therapy?

Insurance plans have strict rules about using insurance for couples and family therapy. One person in the couple or family must be named as the ‘identified patient’ and assigned a mental health diagnosis that is negatively impacting the couple or family system. Most couples and families who seek therapy have some type of relational distress (listed as V-code 61.10 and Z-code Z63.0 in the DSM-5). However, most insurance plans do not accept V-codes as ‘medically necessary’ although we certainly know that relationship distress can take a toll on someone’s mental health.

Therefore, we will have a collaborative conversation with you about whether we believe we can bill your insurance for your couples / family sessions. It will depend on your unique circumstances.