the District and the inner suburbs
Couples therapy in Washington, D.C.
Couples therapy and marriage counselling in Washington, D.C. — 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.
Two people can run a household, two careers and a city calendar at a very high standard and still be strangers by Sunday. That is the most common shape of a District couple who calls: nothing is failing, nothing is broken, and neither of you can remember when you last felt like a team rather than two competent people sharing an address.
The District is the most demanding professional market of the four jurisdictions and the one where confidentiality anxiety runs highest. Couples here are frequently in politics, law, journalism, the agencies or the military, and a good number will not sit in a therapy waiting room in the city where colleagues might walk past. The recurring pattern is two capable people running parallel lives extremely well and sharing almost nothing.
What Washington, D.C. couples most often bring
- Two demanding careers and no unhurried time together in months
- Confidentiality concerns tied to clearances and public roles
- Resentment about whose job, move or schedule wins
- Deciding about children, or grieving that decision
- Sex that stopped somewhere in the last two years without discussion
Those are the patterns that recur most often in the District and the inner suburbs, not a menu. Plenty of couples arrive with something that is not on the list.
What makes this practice different
Couples here are used to being handled carefully, and careful is often how the sexual side gets avoided for a full course of therapy. AASECT certification means it gets asked about plainly in the first session instead of waiting for you to raise 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 Washington, D.C.
We see couples in person at our Washington, D.C. office and online by secure video. Choose the setting that works for your relationship and your schedules: a visit near Farragut North and Dupont Circle, or a private session from home. Ask our intake coordinator which clinician has in-person availability; Dr. Elizabeth Wolfe's sessions are online only.
Weekly is the usual starting cadence: 50 minutes, both partners together, with occasional individual sessions where they would help.
Areas served around Washington, D.C.
Dupont Circle · Logan Circle · Capitol Hill · Georgetown · Columbia Heights · Navy Yard · Petworth · and everywhere else in Washington, D.C..
Common questions from Washington, D.C. couples
I hold a clearance. What gets written down, and who can see it?
A fair question and it gets a direct answer, not reassurance. Records are the clinical minimum, held under HIPAA, and released to nobody without your written authorisation. Because the practice is out-of-network, no insurer receives a diagnosis unless you choose to submit a superbill. Bring the specifics of your situation to the free consultation and you can decide with real information.
We are not married. Is couples therapy still the right thing to book?
In practice, very little separates them. "Marriage counselling" is what people tend to search when they are married and worried; "couples therapy" is the term the field uses. Both cover dating, engaged, married, remarried and long-term unmarried partners equally. You do not have to be married, and you do not have to be in crisis.
Are you actually located in Washington, D.C.?
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.
Can I start on my own and bring my partner in later?
There is a great deal of point. Dragging a reluctant partner into a first session rarely goes well. Going yourself and coming home different changes the dynamic far more reliably, and a fair number of partners who refused the first month ask to join by the third.
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 many sessions should we expect?
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.
Do you take insurance?
Fees are listed openly on the fees page. Payment is per session, out-of-network, with a superbill on request that many plans reimburse in part. The consultation is free specifically so the money conversation happens before you book anything.
Nearby and related
- Couples therapy in Dupont Circle — downtown D.C. and the near Northwest
- 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.
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