Discernment Counseling is designed for couples where one person is leaning out of the relationship, considering divorce and unsure if traditional marriage counseling would help, and the other is leaning in and interested in rebuilding the marriage.

The goal of Discernment Counseling is for you to gain clarity and confidence about the best direction to take your relationship based on a deeper understanding of the relationship and the possibilities for the future. The goal is not to solve the problems of the marriage, but to see if they are solvable.

You will both be treated with kindness, compassion, and respect, no matter how you are feeling about your marriage at the moment.

You will come in as a couple, but most of the work occurs individually with the therapist, because you are both starting out in very different places.

During this time, I will help you decide whether to try to work on the marriage, move toward divorce, or pause and decide later. I respect your reasons for divorce while trying to open up the possibility of working on the marriage. I help each of you see your own contributions to the problems of the relationship and the possible solutions, which will be useful in future relationships even if this one ends, and decide which path you’d like to take.

Discernment Counseling is a short-term therapeutic approach with a maximum of five sessions. The first session is typically two hours, and subsequent sessions are 90 minutes.