Capitol Hill and eastern D.C.
Couples therapy in Washington, D.C.
Couples therapy and marriage counselling in Capitol Hill — 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.
There is a specific kind of tired that Capitol Hill marriages arrive with. Not conflict — conflict would at least be contact. Two people who are extremely good at their jobs, extremely good at covering the household, and down to about four real conversations a month, most of them about the calendar.
Capitol Hill runs on a calendar neither partner controls. Session weeks, recess, campaign cycles and agency deadlines decide when the two of you are actually in the same room, and after a few years of that the marriage can start to feel like a logistics partnership between two people who used to be in love.
What Capitol Hill couples most often bring
- Schedules set by work rather than by the two of you
- Confidentiality concerns tied to clearances and public roles
- Resentment about whose career, move or hours win
- Reconnecting after a campaign, deployment or promotion
- Sex that quietly stopped and has not been mentioned since
Those are the patterns that recur most often in Capitol Hill and eastern D.C., not a menu. Plenty of couples arrive with something that is not on the list.
What makes this practice different
Couples in public-facing roles are used to being handled carefully, and careful is often how the sexual side of a marriage goes unaddressed for a full course of therapy. Certified sex-therapy training means it is on the table in session one.
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 Capitol Hill
Sessions are held by secure video or in person at 1660 L Street NW, Suite 308, about fifteen minutes from the Hill. Evening slots exist specifically because votes and hearings do not respect a five o'clock appointment.
Weekly is the usual starting cadence: 50 minutes, both partners together, with occasional individual sessions where they would help.
Areas served around Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill · Eastern Market · Navy Yard · H Street NE · Hill East · Southwest Waterfront · and everywhere else in Washington, D.C..
Common questions from Capitol Hill couples
I hold a clearance. What gets recorded, and who can see it?
You get a direct answer rather than reassurance. Records are kept to the clinical minimum, held under HIPAA and released to nobody without your written authorisation. Because the practice is out-of-network, no insurer is sent a diagnosis unless you choose to submit a superbill yourself. Bring your specific situation to the free consultation and decide with real information.
Is marriage counselling the same thing as couples therapy?
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 Capitol Hill?
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?
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?
It would. That gap is the single most common reason couples arrive here having already been to therapy. AASECT certification is a supervised training standard in sexual health that most couples counsellors do not hold, and it is why desire, frequency, pain and performance can be treated in the same room as the conflict.
How long does couples therapy take?
There is an end point, and it gets named. Most couples work weekly for a few months and then space sessions out. Nobody is kept on an indefinite schedule because the appointment slot exists.
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 Washington, D.C. — the District and the inner suburbs
- Couples therapy in Dupont Circle — downtown D.C. and the near Northwest
- 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, free, no obligation — and you do not both have to be on the call. Bring the argument you keep having.