Specialized services and formats
Weekly 50-minute sessions are the default in this field, and for most couples they work fine. Some situations need a different container. A couple deciding whether to divorce may have five real conversations left in them, and spending those on standard therapy exercises wastes something scarce. A couple reeling from a week-old discovery may need a full day of help soon, because Tuesdays at 4pm cannot hold that.
Four formats run at this practice. Here is what each one is for, and what it costs.
Discernment counseling, for couples deciding whether to stay
Discernment counseling exists for what clinicians call mixed-agenda couples: one partner leaning toward leaving while the other hopes to save the marriage. Regular couples therapy quietly fails these couples, because it assumes both people want the relationship to work. Discernment work has a narrower goal, a clear and confident decision about the future, reached in one to five sessions.
The structure comes from Dr. Bill Doherty at the Doherty Relationship Institute. Most of the work happens in separate one-to-one conversations with each partner. Three paths stay on the table the whole time: keep things as they are, move toward separation, or commit to six months of all-in couples therapy with divorce off the table.
Dr. Vance is a certified discernment counselor. Couples on the brink who start with half-hearted couples therapy usually confirm each other's doubts. Discernment counseling exists so you decide first and work second.
Being unsure whether you even want to stay is the qualification for this service, not a barrier to it.
Couples intensives, when weekly is too slow
An intensive compresses months of weekly sessions into a half day, a full day, or a weekend. The format fits three situations: a fresh crisis such as a just-disclosed affair, a stuck point that weekly sessions keep circling, and couples who travel in from outside the Towson area.
Intensives run $1,200 to $3,500 depending on length, quoted exactly before you book. Each one includes pre-work assessments and a written follow-up plan, and most couples continue with brief check-ins afterward.
The Resilient Heart Program
For couples doing full repair work. Four phases, each with defined exit criteria, so you always know where you are. Most couples complete the core in 12 to 20 sessions, and progress is measured against your own intake scores at three points, not against an average.
Assessment
Three sessions: a 75-minute joint intake, one individual hour with each partner, and a feedback session with your relational map. Around $825.
Interrupting the cycle
Naming the pattern and building the skills to stop it mid-flight. Gottman conflict work and PACT regulation, weekly, roughly weeks one through six.
Repair and reconnection
The attachment conversations underneath the fights, led by Emotionally Focused Therapy. Weeks six through sixteen, and the phase where most couples say it turned.
Consolidation
Re-assessment against your intake baseline, a written plan for the next disagreement, and check-ins at three and six months.
Online couples therapy across Maryland
The same methods, the same structure, over secure HIPAA-compliant video, for couples anywhere in Maryland. Telehealth works well for the talking phases of the work and for couples juggling kids and commutes; some intensives and assessments are better in person, and Dr. Vance will tell you which applies to you.
Sessions hold to the same fees, in person or online, and scheduling around work and childcare is part of the first conversation.
Which format fits, in one call
Describe your situation in a free 15-minute call and you will get a direct recommendation: discernment, intensive, the program, or a referral if this practice is not the right fit. Fees and the insurance walkthrough are published on the cost page, and the approaches page explains the methods behind every format.