1. Initial Session: Both partners share their views on the relationship and the uncertainty they are facing.

2. Individual Sessions: Each partner meets with the counselor separately to explore their feelings, concerns, and hopes for the future.

3. Joint Sessions: The couple meets together to review individual insights and begin considering possible paths forward.

4. Final Decision: After 1-5 sessions, the couple makes a decision: commit to working on the relationship through couples therapy, separate, or maintain the status quo for now with clarity.

Discernment counseling is for couples uncertain about continuing their relationship. It helps them gain clarity and make an informed decision about staying together or separating. It’s typically short-term and focuses on decision-making, not solving relationship problems.

Couples therapy, on the other hand, is for partners who’ve committed to working through issues together. It’s a longer process focused on improving communication, intimacy, and resolving conflict. Couples therapy aims to heal and strengthen the relationship, while discernment counseling helps decide its future.

The Naked Truth currently has a waitlist for new clients. To join the list, please complete the new client consultation form. You will receive an email at the email address you provide when we begin accepting new clients. 

Couples Well-Suited for Discernment Counseling

1. Ambivalent Couples: These are couples where one or both partners are unsure about the future of the relationship. One partner might be leaning toward separation while the other wants to stay and work on the relationship. These couples often have a "mixed-agenda," where they have different levels of commitment or desire to continue the relationship, making discernment counseling a good option to clarify their intentions.

2. Couples Facing Crisis: These are couples experiencing significant distress, such as considering divorce due to infidelity, long-standing conflict, or emotional disengagement. They may be unsure whether the relationship is salvageable or if they should continue trying to work things out.

3. Couples Seeking Clarity: These are couples who know their relationship isn’t working but feel conflicted about making the decision to separate. They may feel stuck in indecision and want a structured way to explore their options and gain clarity about the future.

4. Couples Wanting a Thoughtful Decision: These are partners who want to make an informed and intentional decision about whether to stay, leave, or undergo couples therapy. They want to avoid making a rushed decision and are looking for a way to reflect deeply on their situation.

Couples Not Well-Suited for Discernment Counseling

1. Couples Already Committed to Repairing the Relationship: If both partners have already agreed to work on the relationship and want help with communication, connection, or conflict resolution, couples therapy is a better fit. These couples are ready to work on repairing the relationship rather than deciding whether to continue it.

2. Couples Seeking Immediate Resolution: If a couple is looking for a quick solution to specific relationship problems, such as communication or sexual difficulties, discernment counseling is not ideal. It’s not focused on resolving issues but rather on helping the couple decide whether to stay together or separate.

3. Couples Dealing with Abuse: If there is active emotional, physical, or psychological abuse in the relationship, discernment counseling is not appropriate. In these situations, the focus should be on safety and addressing the abuse, typically through individual therapy or crisis intervention, rather than relationship counseling.

4. Couples Where One Partner is Decided: If one partner has already firmly decided to divorce or end the relationship, discernment counseling may not be effective. It requires that both partners have some level of ambivalence or openness to exploring the decision together.

5. Couples Looking for Long-Term Therapy: Discernment counseling is a short-term process focused on decision-making. Couples who are seeking long-term therapy to address deeper, ongoing issues in their relationship would be better suited for couples therapy, which focuses on working through relationship problems.

Goals of Discernment Counseling

1. Clarity: Help each partner understand their thoughts and feelings about the relationship.

2. Confidence: Provide a safe space to explore whether to stay in the relationship or move toward separation.

3. Understanding: Gain insights into the relationship dynamics and explore if change is possible.

4. Decision-making: Guide couples toward a decision of staying together and working on the relationship or separating with mutual understanding. 

Benefits of Discernment Counseling

• Short-Term & Focused: Typically involves 1-5 sessions, providing a structured yet brief format to address the uncertainty.

• Non-Judgmental: Designed for couples where one or both partners are ambivalent about the relationship.

• Individual & Joint Sessions: Partners meet both individually and together to explore their perspectives, ensuring both voices are heard.

• Reduces Conflict: Helps couples pause and reflect rather than rush into irreversible decisions, such as divorce.

• Provides Insight: Couples gain a clearer understanding of their relationship, their desires, and the potential for change

The Naked Truth currently has a waitlist for new clients. To join the list, please complete the new client consultation form. You will receive an email at the email address you provide when we begin accepting new clients.