Marriage Counseling in Chicago
At Tides Mental Health, marriage counseling in Chicago gives you and your spouse a place to talk honestly about where your marriage is, how you got here, and what each of you wants next, with a therapist whose job is to help you both be heard, not to pick a winner.
You don't have to agree on whether to stay together before you start. Many couples arrive with a shared question instead of a shared goal: is there anything here worth working for? That question is enough to begin.
Book Free ConsultationYour First Step Doesn't Have to Be a Big One
Free 15-Minute Consultation
Either of you can call. Tell us what's going on and what you're hoping for, even if you each want something different.
Get Matched with a Therapist
Our intake team connects you with a therapist who works with married couples and knows the patterns that build up over years.
Start Together, or Solo
If your spouse isn't ready yet, you can begin on your own and bring them in when it feels right.
What Marriage Counseling Looks Like Here
Sessions run 50 to 60 minutes, usually weekly at the start, with both spouses in the room. Your therapist isn't there to referee or to tell you whether to stay married. The work is helping you both see the cycle you keep falling into and try a different way through it.
Marriage counseling tends to deal with what piles up over years: resentment that never got named, the same argument on the same night of the week, a split of work and parenting that stopped feeling fair, or one of you quietly checking out. The longer a pattern runs, the more it stands in for the real conversation.
Our therapists draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which looks at the attachment needs underneath conflict, and some also use Gottman Method tools for communication and repair. The approach is matched to what's happening between the two of you, not applied as a script.
Marriage counseling often pairs well with individual therapy for one or both spouses, and with family therapy when kids or extended family are part of the picture. Not married? See our couples therapy page.
Start Marriage CounselingWhy Choose Tides for Marriage Counseling
No Verdict on Your Marriage
Your therapist won't tell you to stay or to leave. The job is to help you both understand what's happening, so whatever you decide is a decision and not a reaction.
Room for Uncertainty
Being unsure about your marriage isn't a reason to wait. Ambivalence is useful information, and early sessions are about understanding it, not forcing a commitment.
Trained in Marriage & Family Therapy
Several of our couples therapists are trained as marriage and family therapists, so the relationship between you is the focus, not just each person on their own.
Flexible Treatment Options
In-person sessions at our Chicago office and secure online therapy across Illinois, so a busy schedule doesn't have to stand in the way.
Marriage Concerns We Address
Growing Apart
Years of logistics, work, and kids can leave two people living parallel lives. Counseling helps you find your way back to each other, or understand why that's hard.
Resentment & Repeating Fights
The same argument on a loop, or old hurts that never got repaired and now color everything else.
Infidelity & Broken Trust
Whether it's an affair or smaller betrayals that added up, we help you both work toward honesty and decide how to move forward.
Deciding Whether to Stay
When one or both of you is seriously weighing separation, therapy can focus on getting clarity before you decide.
Intimacy & Closeness
Mismatched needs, avoided conversations, or a sense that affection quietly disappeared. Therapy gives you room to talk about it without blame.
Money, In-Laws & Family Stress
Disagreements about finances, extended family, or parenting can strain a marriage that's otherwise solid.
Therapists Who Work With Married Couples
Sarah Margulis
Works with couples navigating conflict, distance, and intimacy concerns, using Emotionally Focused Therapy and the Gottman Method (Level 1). Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from The Family Institute at Northwestern University.
Victoria Najjar
Supports couples and blended families with Emotionally Focused, attachment-based, and family systems approaches. M.A. in Couple and Family Therapy from Adler University.
Johnathan Moore
Works with individuals, couples, and families on relationship struggle and disconnection, using emotion-focused, attachment-informed, and strengths-based approaches. Sessions available in English and Spanish.
Not Sure Who to Choose?
Tell our intake team what you're working through and we'll match you with a therapist who fits you both. There's no cost for the first conversation.
Marriage Counseling Near You in Lincoln Park & Lakeview
Lincoln Park & Lakeview
Our Chicago office sits on the Lincoln Park/Lakeview border, convenient for couples coming from either neighborhood, River North, or nearby areas of the North Side.
Online Therapy, Anywhere in Illinois
Join a session together from home as long as you're both physically located in Illinois, which is often easier to coordinate than getting to an office at the same time.
What to Expect: Your Marriage Counseling Journey
Either spouse can make this call, or you can do it together. We'll ask what's bringing you in and answer questions about how sessions work before you schedule anything.
Early sessions map your history as a couple: what brought you together, what the pattern looks like now, and what each of you wants. If you're unsure about staying, that uncertainty is treated as useful information, not something to resolve in week one.
Most couples meet weekly at first. Your therapist teaches communication and repair skills you can practice between sessions and adjusts the pace as things shift.
Every so often, your therapist checks whether the patterns are changing at home and not just in session, and talks with you about next steps if they aren't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Few people can answer that from inside the argument. Counseling gives you a structured way to see what's driving the distance and whether it can change. Often the big question turns into smaller, more workable ones, like whether one particular pattern can shift.
You can still come in. Some therapists use a short, focused format sometimes called discernment counseling for couples where one or both spouses are uncertain. The goal is clarity about your options, not pushing you toward staying or leaving. Ask our intake team what's available.
Mostly the label. The skills and methods overlap. Marriage counseling is the term many married couples search for, and it tends to focus on long-running patterns and big decisions about the future. Unmarried partners are welcome in our couples therapy program.
Yes. Some people begin with individual sessions to sort out what they want, then bring their spouse in. A hesitant spouse often becomes more open once they see the sessions aren't about assigning blame.
It depends on what brought you in. Couples working through a specific rupture or a long-running pattern often see movement over a few months of weekly sessions, with regular check-ins along the way. There's no fixed number of sessions.
Sometimes. Coverage depends on your plan, and many insurers require a mental health diagnosis for at least one spouse, since relationship distress alone isn't always a covered diagnosis. Call our intake team and we'll walk through your benefits before you start.
Yes, as long as you're both physically in Illinois during the session. Many couples mix in-person and virtual sessions depending on their schedules.
About Tides Mental Health
Tides Mental Health is a Chicago-based practice providing inclusive, relationship-focused mental health care for individuals, couples, and families. From our Chicago office, our clinical therapists offer marriage counseling with both in-person and secure telehealth options. New clients start with a free 15-minute consultation before committing to a full intake appointment.
Ready to Start Marriage Counseling?
However things feel right now, a first conversation is a small step. Book a free 15-minute consultation and talk through what's happening with someone who can help you figure out what comes next.
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