Montgomery County
Couples therapy in Bethesda, MD
Couples therapy and marriage counselling in Bethesda — in person and by secure video.
Who you would be working with
For online couples therapy in Maryland, Dr. Elizabeth Wolfe, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist with confirmed PSYPACT authorization, trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy. Her couples sessions are held by secure video. The practice also offers in-person couples sessions at our Bethesda office; ask about clinician availability when booking. Noelle Harris, LMSW, also sees Maryland couples and is currently keeping a waitlist. The practice was founded by Vanessa Cushing, LPC, NCC, MS, an AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist trained at Johns Hopkins. Meet Dr. Wolfe. Most couples therapists cannot treat the sexual side of a relationship. That is usually the part couples were most afraid to raise.
Montgomery County couples usually have everything else optimised. Schools chosen, finances handled, calendars synchronised, two demanding careers running well. The relationship is the one item that never got put on the calendar, and by the time someone calls it has been years of excellent logistics and almost no contact.
The Maryland office is on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, so this is one of only two metros where in-person couples sessions are genuinely available. Montgomery County couples are usually the ones who have optimised everything else — careers, schools, finances, logistics all handled at a high level. The relationship is the one item nobody put on the calendar, and it has been years.
What Bethesda couples most often bring
- High-achieving couples who run the household well and barely talk
- Conflict about children's schooling, activities and standards
- Desire discrepancy that started after the first child and never corrected
- Perimenopause and midlife change reshaping the relationship
- Partners who are excellent co-parents and no longer lovers
That list is not exhaustive — it is what actually comes through the door from Montgomery County. If your situation is not on it, that does not mean it is unusual.
What makes this practice different
Desire discrepancy is the single most common thread in this caseload, usually beginning after a first child and never corrected. It is also the exact thing a general couples counsellor is least trained to treat, which is why so many Montgomery County couples arrive here having already done therapy once.
Most couples counsellors handle the communication and leave the bedroom alone. Dr. Wolfe is trained in both couples therapy and sex therapy, so the argument you keep having and the intimacy that quietly stopped can be worked on together rather than referred elsewhere.
How sessions work from Bethesda
This is one of only two metros with a real office: the Maryland practice is on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, so in-person couples sessions are genuinely available alongside secure video. Many couples start in the room and shift to video once the weekly reality of getting two people to the same place at the same time arrives.
Weekly is the usual starting cadence: 50 minutes, both partners together, with occasional individual sessions where they would help.
Areas served around Bethesda
Chevy Chase · Rockville · Potomac · Kensington · North Bethesda · Silver Spring · Gaithersburg · and everywhere else in Maryland.
Common questions from Bethesda couples
Do you see couples in person in Bethesda, and evenings?
Yes to in person — the office is on Old Georgetown Road. Evening availability is limited and goes quickly, which is worth raising in the consultation so you are not offered a slot neither of you can keep. Video is often the more sustainable option for two-career couples even when the office is close.
Is marriage counselling the same thing as couples therapy?
They are the same work under two names. The field says couples therapy; most people in Montgomery County searching at 11pm type marriage counselling. Either way you get the same thing: weekly joint sessions on the pattern between you, whatever your legal status.
Are you actually located in Bethesda?
Yes. In-person couples sessions are available at our Bethesda office, at 7700 Old Georgetown Rd Ste 675. Ask which clinician has in-person availability when booking. Dr. Wolfe's couples sessions are by secure video, so you can choose the format that fits your needs.
What if only one of us wants to come?
That is one of the most common ways this starts, and it is workable. One partner can begin alone — to get clear on what they want, or to work out whether this is something they still want to fight for — and the other can join later if and when they are ready.
Do you work on sex, or only communication?
Yes — raised in the first session, in fact, rather than waiting for you to bring it up in month four. It is asked about directly and without embarrassment, which is what AASECT-certified training is for.
How long does couples therapy take?
Shorter than most couples fear. Many come weekly for eight to sixteen sessions and then taper. Affair recovery, or years of accumulated resentment, generally needs longer.
What does it cost, and do you take insurance?
This is an out-of-network practice. Superbills are provided on request and many plans reimburse part of the fee. Full fees are on the fees page rather than buried here, and the 15-minute consultation is free so you can ask about money before committing to anything.
Nearby and related
- Couples therapy in Silver Spring — Silver Spring and eastern Montgomery County
- Couples therapy in Baltimore — Baltimore and Central Maryland
- Sex therapy across Maryland — when the sexual side is the main concern
- Meet Dr. Elizabeth Wolfe — clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist
Read next
- Marriage counselling vs. couples therapy
- Individual vs. couples work
- What happens in a first session
- Fees and insurance
Fifteen minutes on the phone, no cost, no pressure to book. Most couples use it to find out whether the thing they have not said out loud yet is something that can be worked on.