downtown D.C. and the near Northwest
Couples therapy in Washington, D.C.
Couples therapy and marriage counselling in Dupont Circle — in person and by secure video.
Who you would be working with
For online couples therapy in Washington, D.C., 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 Washington, D.C. office; ask about clinician availability when booking. 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.
In-person couples therapy at our Washington, D.C. office
We see clients in person and online. In-person couples appointments are available at our District office; online appointments offer the same space to work on communication, trust and intimacy without two commutes.
1660 L St NW Suite 308, Washington, DC 20036. The office is near Farragut North and Dupont Circle. Appointments are arranged in advance.
Call (703) 544-7081 or email vanessa@cushingcounseling.com to ask about in-person appointments and clinician availability.
D.C.-eligible couples clinicians and fees
Dr. Elizabeth Wolfe, PsyD
Clinical Psychologist · Certified Sex Therapist. Accepting new clients. Adults, individually and as couples. Online only. As a psychologist she is PSYPACT-authorized, so clients located in any of the 43 PSYPACT jurisdictions can be seen — confirmed for your state on the consultation call.
- $400 per couples session
Read Elizabeth Wolfe's bio · Book a free consultation
For in-person couples sessions, our intake coordinator will confirm the eligible clinician, current opening and fee before you book. Dr. Wolfe's PSYPACT authorization covers online care in the District, not in-person sessions at this office.
Cushing Counseling is out-of-network. Ask about a superbill and check your plan's benefits; couples therapy reimbursement is not guaranteed. The consultation is free, with no obligation to book.
You still like each other. That is usually the first thing Dupont couples say, slightly apologetically, as though liking each other disqualifies them from needing help. It does not. Two people can be genuinely fond, genuinely busy, and eighteen months into a version of the relationship neither of them chose on purpose.
Dupont and Logan Circle couples are typically younger than the rest of the District and more likely to be queer, non-monogamous or somewhere in the middle of working that out. The complaint is rarely that the relationship is failing. It is that two people with demanding jobs and an active social calendar have stopped having the conversations that used to happen without effort.
What Dupont Circle couples most often bring
- Two demanding careers and no unstructured time together
- Opening, closing or renegotiating the terms of the relationship
- Desire discrepancy in the first years of living together
- Queer and trans couples wanting therapy that does not need it explained
If none of that quite describes you, it does not mean your situation is rare — it means Dupont Circle sends a wider range of couples than any list can hold.
What makes this practice different
Most generalist couples therapists in the District will handle the communication and quietly route around the sex. AASECT certification is why kink, non-monogamy and desire get asked about plainly in the first session instead of waiting for you to volunteer it.
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 Dupont Circle
The District office is at 1660 L Street NW, Suite 308 — a walk from Dupont Circle, a block or two from Farragut North, and reachable on the Red, Orange, Blue and Silver lines. Couples who prefer to be in the same room can be; couples who would rather not be seen walking in choose secure video instead.
Weekly is the usual starting cadence: 50 minutes, both partners together, with occasional individual sessions where they would help.
Areas served around Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle · Logan Circle · Kalorama · Adams Morgan · West End · Farragut · U Street · and everywhere else in Washington, D.C..
Common questions from Dupont Circle couples
We are not monogamous. Will that be treated as the problem?
No. Relationship structure is information, not a diagnosis. What gets worked on is what the two of you say is not working — the agreements, the jealousy, the conversation that keeps stalling — not the fact that your arrangement differs from the default.
How is couples therapy different from marriage counselling?
Yes. Nothing here is restricted to married couples — dating, engaged, partnered for fifteen years without a certificate, remarried with children from before. The work is the pattern between two people, and that does not depend on paperwork.
Are you actually located in Dupont Circle?
Yes. In-person couples sessions are available at our Washington, D.C. office, at 1660 L St NW Suite 308. 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.
We have done couples counselling before and the sexual side never came up. Would that be different here?
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?
Eight to sixteen weekly sessions is the usual range, with tapering after. You will be told early which end of that range your situation looks like rather than being left to guess.
How does payment work?
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 Washington, D.C. — the District and the inner suburbs
- Couples therapy in Capitol Hill — Capitol Hill and eastern D.C.
- Couples therapy in Georgetown — Georgetown and upper Northwest
- Sex therapy across Washington, D.C. — 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.