Not necessarily. It's common for one partner to feel more hopeful about therapy—or more convinced that something needs to change—than the other. You don't have to agree about what's wrong before you begin.

What matters is a willingness from both partners to show up, be curious about what's happening between you, and eventually consider your own role in changing the relationship.

Yes. RLT shares some goals with other evidence-based approaches to couples therapy but is particularly known for being active, direct, and focused on accountability.

Your therapist will help you identify the relationship patterns happening between you and may directly point out behaviors that are contributing to disconnection. Couples who want a therapist who is engaged and willing to offer clear feedback often appreciate this approach.

No. Being direct doesn't mean deciding that one partner is right and the other is wrong.

Your therapist's role is to understand the relationship as a whole while helping each partner recognize their contribution to the dynamic. When an ineffective or harmful pattern shows up, your therapist may name it directly—regardless of which partner is engaging in it.

Yes. Tella Psychology provides online therapy in Texas and across participating PSYPACT states. Couples therapy can work well through telehealth as long as you have a private space where you can participate fully in sessions.

We can even work with partners living in different states as long as both states are part of PSYPACT. See the list of states here.

Absolutely. Couples therapy isn't only for relationships on the verge of ending.

Many couples seek therapy because they've noticed themselves becoming less connected, keep getting caught in a particular conflict, are navigating a major transition, or simply want to strengthen their relationship before problems become more entrenched.

You don't have to wait until your relationship is in crisis to work on it.

That's a common question, and you don't have to figure it out before contacting us. During your consultation, we'll talk about what's happening, what you're hoping to change, and whether couples therapy, individual therapy, or another approach makes the most sense as a starting point.

If you're here reading about couples therapy, there's likely still something worth understanding—even if you're not sure whether the relationship can be repaired.

You don't have to come to therapy certain that you want to stay together. Couples therapy can provide a structured space to understand what has happened between you, whether meaningful change is still possible, and what each of you wants moving forward.

Sometimes that work leads to rebuilding trust and connection. Other times, couples decide that ending the relationship is the healthiest path. In those cases, therapy can help partners navigate the separation with greater clarity and respect—especially when they will continue to share responsibilities, family relationships, or parenting.

The goal isn't to keep every couple together. It's to help you move forward with greater understanding and intention, whatever you ultimately decide.

The fee for a couples session is $275 per hour. Sessions are typically scheduled for an hour.

Extended sessions may be requested or recommended but fees will always be discussed beforehand. Extended sessions are prorated in 15-minute increments.

Yes. Repeated arguments are often less about the specific topic and more about the pattern that develops between you. One person may criticize or push harder to be heard while the other becomes defensive, shuts down, or withdraws—and each person's response reinforces the other's.

Couples therapy can help you slow down that cycle, understand what each of you is contributing to it, and practice responding differently so the same disagreement doesn't keep ending in the same place.

Yes. Many couples seek therapy not because they're constantly fighting, but because they've gradually lost emotional or physical closeness. Work, parenting, stress, and everyday responsibilities can leave a relationship functioning well logistically while the partners themselves feel increasingly disconnected.

Therapy can help you understand what has contributed to that distance and intentionally rebuild connection, intimacy, and a sense of being partners rather than simply managing a life together.

Yes. Couples therapy can help partners work through infidelity, secrecy, broken agreements, or other significant breaches of trust. Early work often focuses on understanding what happened, addressing the impact of the rupture, and creating enough safety and honesty to determine what comes next.

Rebuilding trust takes time and requires meaningful accountability rather than simply trying to “move on.” Therapy can help you determine whether trust can be rebuilt and what both partners would need for that to happen.

Yes—but improving communication usually involves more than learning the right words to use. Couples often know how they're supposed to communicate but struggle to do it once they feel hurt, criticized, rejected, overwhelmed, or misunderstood.

Couples therapy helps you identify what happens in those moments and practice staying more connected, direct, and respectful even when the conversation is difficult.

Yes. In a pursue-withdraw pattern, one partner often seeks more conversation, reassurance, or resolution while the other pulls away, shuts down, or asks for space. The more one pursues, the more the other withdraws—and both partners can end up feeling rejected or alone.

Therapy can help you understand what each person's response is trying to accomplish, interrupt the cycle, and develop ways of staying connected without either partner having to chase or disappear.