Marriage & Couples Counseling
When to reach out
You Don’t Have to Wait for a Crisis to Get Help
Many couples don’t hit one big breaking point. They slowly drift apart through years of miscommunication, unspoken hurts, and patterns of criticism and defensiveness.
Couples counseling gives you both a safe, non-judgmental space to understand each other more deeply, heal old wounds, and learn practical skills that make your relationship stronger, whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or decades in.
Does this sound familiar?
You used to talk for hours. Now most conversations are about schedules and bills, and the ones that matter end in the same argument, or in silence. Learn how to pause and return when an argument floods. You share a home and a bed, yet you feel more like roommates than partners.
It doesn’t have to stay this way.
“God definitely lead me and my wife to Grace Wellness Center. Biblical based counseling has added so much to our marriage.”
Shawn H., Grace client
What we help with
Common Challenges Couples Bring to Counseling
Every relationship goes through hard seasons. Your counselor will help you understand what’s happening between you and build a plan that fits your relationship.
Communication breakdowns
Conversations that go in circles, or stop altogether. Learn to listen well and speak so you’re truly heard.
Recurring arguments
The same fight about money, family, chores, or intimacy. Find the pattern underneath and break the cycle together.
Emotional distance
Living parallel lives and feeling alone in your own relationship. Rebuild warmth, closeness, and connection.
Specialized support for specific needs
Infidelity & broken trust
Healing after an affair or betrayal, with a clear, careful path toward rebuilding trust.
Betrayal trauma counseling →Major relationship changes
A new baby, a move, job loss, illness, retirement, or an empty nest, faced as a team.
Life transitions counseling →Pornography & sexual addiction
Confidential support for the person struggling and for the partner who has been hurt.
Sexual addiction counseling →Blended families
Bringing two families together with less conflict and more unity.
Blended family counseling →Separation & divorce
Clarity and support whether you’re fighting to reconcile or navigating the end of a marriage.
Divorce counseling →Christ-centered marriage intensive
Focused, multi-hour sessions for couples who want to make significant progress quickly.
Marriage intensives →We also support military marriages, clergy marriages, infertility, empty nest, codependency, and premarital counseling for engaged couples. Not sure where to start? Talk with our care team.
How couples counseling works
A Clear Path Toward a Healthier Relationship
Faith integration, including prayer, Scripture, and biblical principles for relationships, is always guided by your goals and comfort as a couple.
Get matched
Tell our care team what you’re facing, your schedule, and whether you prefer in-person or online sessions. We’ll match you with a counselor experienced with couples.
Understand both perspectives
Early sessions explore your history, each partner’s point of view, and your goals. Some counselors also meet with each partner individually.
Build new skills together
Practice listening, handling conflict without hurting each other, and rebuilding trust, using approaches such as Emotionally Focused Therapy adapted to a Christian worldview.
Grow closer over time
Carry what you’ve learned into everyday life as your counselor adjusts the plan and you build a stronger, more connected relationship.
Biblical Wisdom, Clinically Sound Care
Quick to listen
Words that build up
A threefold cord
Meet some of our counselors
Christian Marriage & Couples Counselors
Here are three of our most experienced marriage and couples counselors. Our care team will match you with the counselor who best fits your relationship. Meet all of our counselors.
Stephen A. Luther
Founder of Grace with decades of experience restoring hurting marriages and guiding couples through difficult seasons.
Aki Jamal Durham
15+ years helping couples improve communication, resolve conflict, and deepen intimacy. Also offers premarital counseling.
Maria Clark
28+ years of experience helping couples work through communication breakdowns, trust issues, and trauma.
Where and how we meet
In-Person and Online Couples Counseling
Meet together in person at one of our Grace Christian Counseling offices across Western Pennsylvania, including Irwin, Penn Hills, Bethel Park, Pleasant Hills, Sewickley, Cranberry. Or meet from home through secure online Christian counseling in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Georgia. Online sessions make it easier for busy couples to attend together.
Is your safety a concern?
Joint sessions aren’t always appropriate when there is fear, coercive control, abuse, or risk of retaliation. In those situations, a private assessment or individual support is often the safer first step. Learn more about when couples counseling is not recommended.
Questions About Marriage & Couples Counseling
When should we go to couples counseling?
You can start at any point in your relationship, either to strengthen it or to work through existing issues. You don’t need to wait for a crisis.
Is couples counseling only for married couples?
No. We work with dating, engaged, and married couples. We also offer premarital counseling and Christ-centered marriage intensives for engaged and newlywed couples.
What if my spouse or partner is unwilling to attend?
You can start with individual counseling to gain clarity, strengthen your own walk with God, and learn healthier relational patterns. Positive changes in one partner often encourage the other to join later. If you’re not sure how to bring it up, read how to ask your spouse to go to marriage counseling.
Can we meet with a counselor individually too?
Yes. Joint sessions are often the most helpful for working on your relationship, and your counselor may also recommend individual sessions. When there is fear, coercive control, or abuse, individual support is usually the safer first step.
How does Christian couples counseling differ from secular counseling?
We integrate biblical truth with clinically proven methods and view marriage as a covenant reflecting Christ’s love for the church. Every plan honors your faith while addressing real emotional and relational dynamics.
Is everything we discuss confidential?
Yes. Our licensed counselors follow strict professional ethics and confidentiality laws. The only exceptions involve legal requirements, such as risk of imminent harm, which your counselor will explain at the start.
Can we do couples counseling online?
Yes. We offer secure online couples counseling in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Georgia, as well as in-person sessions at our Western Pennsylvania offices.