Who this is for
Married and unmarried couples. People thinking about getting married. People who have been together forty years. Couples rebuilding after an affair, working out how to parent together, or trying to decide honestly whether to stay.
What a first session is like
Both of you come. Nobody is put on trial and nobody gets taken aside afterwards for the real story. The first session is mostly about understanding the pattern the two of you are in, because it is almost always the pattern rather than either person that is the problem.
You will do a fair amount of talking to each other rather than to the counselor.
When individual work comes first
Sometimes one person is carrying something that needs its own space before couples work can go anywhere. If that is the case we will say so.
An honest boundary
Couples counseling is not appropriate where there is violence or fear in the relationship. Joint sessions can make things more dangerous, not less. If that is your situation, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or you can text START to 88788. A text is quieter than a call, which matters if somebody else looks at your phone. Consider calling us about individual support instead. You are not being turned away.
Coming from Tawas City, West Branch or Oscoda
People drive in to Hale for couples counseling from right across the Sunrise Side. The road times are worth knowing before you commit to a weekly appointment, so here they are.
- Tawas City, about 32 minutes by road.
- West Branch, about 40 minutes by road.
- Oscoda, in Iosco County, about 45 minutes by road.
Say which town you are coming from when you call. It changes which times are sensible to offer you, and on the longer drives a longer appointment spaced further apart sometimes works better than a weekly hour. Road times from the rest of the area are on the service area page.
Practical
Couples sessions are 60 minutes, and what to expect and what to bring is set out in full. Most major insurance is accepted, see which plans, though not every plan covers couples counseling, so it is worth asking yours when you call.
Related: adjustment and stress when the pressure is coming from outside the relationship, trauma therapy when one person is carrying something older, and co-parenting and blended family training for two households that have already separated.
Reviewed by Ann Marie Shay, MA, LPC, September 2026.