What happens in the free relationship assessment?

You receive a confidential, personalized virtual call that clarifies your specific challenges and dynamics, and sets a focused path for rapid and deliberate improvement.

Is counseling online or in person?

All sessions are private, and virtual, for confidentiality and convenience.

How long does the program typically take?

Typically, in three to four months, we right the ship and set a confident course for the relationship you want without relying on extended sessions.

How are fees determined?

The free assessment lets us understand your specific needs and craft a tailored plan. Costs are discussed transparently at the conclusion of the initial consultation.

How is your approach different from traditional counseling?

The approach is focused on rapid, deliberate progress. We spend little time assigning blame or revisiting childhood. We co-create the relationship you want, rather than refereeing arguments.

Does this approach help after infidelity?

Yes. The approach helps couples create the intimately loving marriage they want, even after infidelity.

How does this work benefit our children?

Improving the marital relationship reduces household tension and stress. A harmonious home helps children thrive academically and socially, and models emotional maturity and healthy conflict resolution.

What results can couples expect?

A clearer path to a safe, respectful, and intimate partnership, improved communication, rekindled trust, and practical skills you can use long after sessions end.

What does the process look like?

Using a deliberate approach, we become clear about the relationship you want to create, then show up to contribute to it skillfully. The program breaks down problems step by step so you can understand each other better and overcome obstacles to getting the love you want.

Is this right for us?

If you are ready to accept guidance, work on improving your relationship and yourself, and want a direct, no-nonsense approach that prioritizes rapid progress, this is designed for you.

Who leads the program?

The program is led by Anthony Santen, CT, with over 25 years of experience helping couples rebuild trust and intimacy.

Is the process confidential?

Yes. Full discretion is assured. All sessions are private, and virtual.

Couples Therapy Is Supposed to Create Change.

But the same argument is still happening.
The same injuries are still being reopened.
And now one or both of you are losing faith that counseling can help.

The Failure May Not Be Your Relationship.

Sometimes the problem is the format. Weekly conversation can create insight without creating enough structure, continuity, or accountability to change what happens between sessions. A relationship can remain stuck even when both people are sincere, intelligent, and trying.

Private Assessment Call.
60–90 min. No charge.

Book Your Free Relationship Assessment

Our Senior Program Advisor will help you clarify what your relationship needs and whether this program is the right path. Sessions are live with Anthony.

"In the free assessment, you showed us more about our relationship dynamic than our previous therapist did in six months of sitting in her office."

Trevor

Why Couples Therapy Sometimes Stalls

Most couples do not fail because they refuse to communicate. They fail because communication happens inside a pattern neither partner can see clearly enough to interrupt.

One partner presses for reassurance, explanation, affection, or accountability. The other feels criticized, controlled, overwhelmed, or defeated and pulls away, becomes defensive, or counterattacks. Each response confirms the other person's fear. The session may calm the latest argument without changing the machinery that creates the next one.

Signs the Current Process Is Not Producing Enough Change

You understand each other's childhoods better, but daily interactions remain the same.

Sessions are spent reporting the latest fight rather than following a deliberate sequence.

You communicate well in front of the therapist but lose access to those skills at home.

One partner feels blamed while the other feels protected or unheard.

There is no clear definition of progress, no timeframe, and no shared destination.

What We Do Differently

We begin by identifying the relationship cycle beneath the individual complaints. That means locating the pressure, withdrawal, defensiveness, resentment, fear, control, avoidance, and unmet needs that keep reorganizing every disagreement into the same fight.

Then we establish the relationship both partners are trying to create and work backward from that outcome. Each session has a purpose. Each partner has a role. The work is designed to transfer into real interactions, not remain an insight that only exists during the appointment.

This is not blame-free because nothing matters. It is blame-free because blame does not tell either partner what to do next.

When Previous Counseling Becomes Useful

Previous counseling is not discarded. It tells us what you already understand, what language you have learned, where the work became unbalanced, and which changes did not hold under pressure.

The question is not whether your former therapist was good or bad. The question is whether that approach created the clarity, behavioural change, emotional safety, and partnership your relationship now requires.

A Serious Program for a Serious Relationship

Intentional Marriage Counseling is usually completed over 12–16 weeks. Sessions are private, virtual, and generally longer than conventional weekly appointments. The process is finite, direct, and built around a defined relationship outcome.

It is designed for couples who are prepared to stop proving the other person wrong and begin learning how the relationship must function differently.

Begin by Finding Out What Is Actually Stuck

The free Relationship Assessment is a working conversation. We examine the current pattern, the history of previous attempts, the level of commitment, and the practical obstacles to change.

You leave with a clearer explanation of why the relationship has not shifted and what a more direct process would require.

Find out what is keeping your relationship stuck.

Begin Your Relationship Assessment

You'll leave with answers, not more questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we know whether couples therapy is not working?

The clearest sign is not that sessions feel difficult. It is that the same relationship pattern continues without meaningful improvement in safety, trust, communication, closeness, or the couple's ability to repair conflict.

Does unsuccessful therapy mean our marriage cannot be repaired?

No. It means the previous process did not create sufficient change. That may reflect the method, pacing, fit, level of structure, timing, participation, or the seriousness of the underlying pattern.

Should we tell our previous therapist we are considering another approach?

That is your choice. Some couples complete a current course of work, some request a referral, and others move directly to a different format. The priority is clarity about what is and is not changing.

Will you make one partner responsible for the problem?

The work identifies each partner's contribution without treating both contributions as identical. Responsibility is specific. The purpose is to create change, not to distribute equal blame.

Is this approach faster than ordinary therapy?

The program is designed for concentrated, deliberate progress and typically runs 12–16 weeks. No ethical process can guarantee speed for every couple, but the work is structured to avoid indefinite, repetitive sessions.

What happens in the free assessment?

We identify the cycle, clarify what has already been tried, determine what each partner wants, and assess whether the program is a suitable path.