Treatment Interventions
Couples Therapy in Ottawa
Structured, research-based couples therapy at our Nepean and Stittsville clinics, available in person or virtually across Ontario. Our clinicians use Gottman Method Couples Therapy to help partners understand their patterns, rebuild connection, and move forward with a clear plan. Sessions are offered in English, French, and Spanish, with no current wait time.
Understanding Couples Therapy
What Is Couples Therapy?
Couples therapy is a structured process in which both partners work with a trained clinician to understand what is happening between them and to change it. Sometimes called relationship therapy or marriage counselling, it focuses on the patterns that repeat: how conflict starts, how it escalates, and what keeps the two of you from feeling heard.
At Stradwick Clinic, couples counselling begins with a thorough assessment rather than jumping straight into problem solving. Our clinicians have completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method Couples Therapy in their work. The approach draws on decades of research into what distinguishes relationships that last from those that struggle, and it gives both of you a shared picture of your relationship before any treatment plan is set.
We welcome and work with couples in a variety of relationship structures, including non-traditional and non-monogamous relationships. You can expect an affirming, inclusive approach from your first conversation with us onward.
Who Is Couples Therapy For?
Who We Help
Couples come to us at very different points. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit, and you do not need to have decided what you want the outcome to be.
Couples Stuck in the Same Conflict
When the same argument keeps returning in a slightly different form, the content is rarely the real issue. Therapy maps the cycle underneath it so both partners can see how it starts and where it can be interrupted.
Couples at a Turning Point
New parenthood, a career change, blending families, recovering from a breach of trust, or weighing whether to stay together. Transitions put pressure on a relationship in ways that are easier to navigate with structure and a neutral third person.
Relationships of All Structures
We work with married and unmarried partners, long-term and newer relationships, and couples in non-traditional and non-monogamous relationships. Our clinicians provide an affirming, inclusive space regardless of how your relationship is configured.
Common concerns we support: Communication breakdown, recurring conflict, trust and betrayal, emotional distance, intimacy concerns, differences in parenting, life transitions, separation decisions, and the impact of individual stress on the relationship. If you are unsure whether couples therapy is the right fit, the free consultation is a good place to ask.
How Couples Therapy Begins
The Process
Every couple begins with the same structured assessment. It takes a few appointments before ongoing therapy starts, and that groundwork is what makes the sessions afterward focused rather than open-ended.
Free 15-Minute Phone Consultation
Both partners join a short phone call with the clinician at no charge. We walk you through the full process, answer your questions, and get a sense of your situation so you can decide whether to move forward. There is no obligation to book after this call.
90-Minute Intake Session ($315)
Your first full appointment brings both partners in together. The clinician gathers background and relationship history, hears the story of how you met and how you arrived at today, and begins to understand the dynamic between you.
The Gottman Relationship Checkup ($265)
After the intake, each partner completes the Gottman Relationship Checkup separately and confidentially online. It is a detailed research-based questionnaire covering friendship, intimacy, conflict, trust, values, parenting, and finances. Completing the Checkup is required before ongoing couples therapy begins, and the intake and assessment together come to $580.
Individual Results Sessions (60 minutes per partner)
Once both questionnaires are received and reviewed, each partner books their own 60-minute session with the clinician to go through the results and findings. Meeting separately gives each of you room to speak openly before returning to joint work.
Ongoing Couples Sessions (60 minutes, $210)
With the assessment complete, you move into regular 60-minute sessions together. The findings shape what you work on, so sessions start from a clear picture of your relationship rather than from scratch. Ninety-minute sessions are available at $315 when more time is useful.
“Most couples do not need to argue less. They need to understand what the argument has been about all along.”
Fees, Locations & What to Expect
Your Experience
Session Format & Fees
Couples therapy is offered at our Nepean and Stittsville locations, either in person or virtually. There is no wait time for couples therapy at present, so you can usually begin within days rather than weeks.
- Phone consultation: 15 minutes, free of charge
- Intake session: 90 minutes, $315
- Gottman Relationship Checkup: $265 per couple
- Intake and assessment combined: $580
- Individual results session: 60 minutes per partner, $190 each
- Ongoing couples sessions: 60 minutes, $210
- Extended sessions: 90 minutes, $315
- Locations: Nepean and Stittsville, in person or virtual
Insurance and receipts: Sessions are provided as psychotherapy services. Your receipt lists your clinician’s name and registration number together with the credentials and registration number of their supervising clinician, so you have what most benefits providers ask for. Coverage varies considerably between plans, and some list psychotherapy and social work as separate categories with different annual limits. We recommend confirming the details of your own coverage with your provider before your first session.
What You Can Expect
A clinician who stays balanced rather than taking sides
A full assessment before any treatment plan is proposed
Private space to speak openly in your individual session
Practical tools you can use between appointments
An affirming approach to every relationship structure
Sessions available in English, French, and Spanish
How Couples Therapy Helps
Benefits of Therapy
Couples who complete the assessment and stay with the work tend to notice change in four areas.
Conversations That Go Somewhere
Communication improves less through learning scripts and more through recognizing what happens in the first three minutes of a difficult conversation. Couples learn to raise concerns in a way the other person can actually hear.
Understanding the Pattern
The assessment gives both partners a shared, external picture of the cycle they are in. Seeing it named and mapped tends to reduce blame considerably, because the problem becomes the pattern rather than the person.
Repairing Trust and Closeness
Whether the distance came from a specific breach or from years of gradual drift, therapy provides a structured way to address what happened, rebuild safety, and reconnect in daily life rather than only in session.
Clarity About What Comes Next
Not every couple arrives certain they want to stay together. Therapy supports an honest look at the relationship so that whatever you decide, you decide it with a clear understanding rather than in the middle of a fight.
Your Couples Therapy Clinicians
Meet the Team
Two clinicians offer couples therapy at Stradwick Clinic. Both have completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method Couples Therapy in their work.
Danielle Guevara, MACP, RP (Qualifying)
Danielle works with individuals, couples, and families from age 6 and up. She has completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and uses Gottman Method Couples Therapy in her work. Her areas of focus include anxiety, depression, trauma, attachment and relationship concerns, life transitions, separation, family conflict, self-esteem, the impacts of gender-based violence, ADHD, and 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences. Available Mondays in Stittsville and Thursdays in Nepean. Sessions in English, French, and Spanish.
Learn More
Kaity Lalonde, MSW, RSW
Kaity works with individuals, couples, and families from age 10 and up. She has completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and uses Gottman Method Couples Therapy in her work. Her areas of focus include anxiety, depression, trauma-informed work, emotional overwhelm, career uncertainty, transitions into adulthood, emotional suppression, and questions around purpose and direction. Available Mondays in Stittsville and Tuesdays in Nepean. Sessions in English and French.
Learn MoreRelated Services
Explore More
Many couples also benefit from individual support alongside their joint sessions.
Psychotherapy
Individual therapy for adults, children, and adolescents across a wide range of concerns.
Learn More
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
A structured, goal-oriented approach that addresses unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours.
Learn More
Neurofeedback
A non-invasive approach to training brain activity, offered alongside or independently of therapy.
Learn MoreFrequently Asked Questions
Common Questions
Yes. We welcome and work with couples in a variety of relationship structures, including non-traditional and non-monogamous relationships, and you can expect an affirming and inclusive approach from your first conversation with us onward.
Yes. Couples therapy is available both in person and virtually at our Nepean and Stittsville locations.
Starting with a full assessment means your sessions begin from a clear, shared picture of the relationship rather than from guesswork. It tends to make the work that follows more focused and less open ended.
Couples therapy is offered at our Nepean and Stittsville locations. Danielle is available Mondays in Stittsville and Thursdays in Nepean, and Kaity is available Mondays in Stittsville and Tuesdays in Nepean.
The initial phone consultation is free. The 90 minute intake session is $315 and the Gottman Relationship Checkup is $265, which brings the intake and assessment together to $580. Each partner then books a 60 minute individual session at $190 to review their results. Ongoing 60 minute couples sessions are $210, and 90 minute sessions are $315.
You do not need to have decided on an outcome before starting. The assessment is designed to give both partners a clear picture of the relationship, which supports an honest conversation about what comes next, whatever you decide.
It is a confidential, research based online questionnaire that each partner completes separately, covering friendship, intimacy, conflict, trust, values, parenting and finances. Most people take one to two hours to finish it, and your clinician reviews the results with you before any treatment plan is set.
Every couple starts with a free 15 minute phone consultation with both partners. That is followed by a 90 minute intake session together, the Gottman Relationship Checkup completed separately by each partner, and a 60 minute individual session for each of you to review the results before ongoing couples sessions begin.
Couples therapy is offered by Danielle Guevara (MACP, RP Qualifying) and Kaity Lalonde (MSW, RSW). Both have completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method Couples Therapy in their work.
Yes. Both partners join the free phone consultation and the intake session, and each partner then attends their own individual session to go through the assessment results before joint sessions resume.
There is no wait time for couples therapy at present, so most couples can book their free consultation and begin the process within days rather than weeks.
Sessions are available in English and French with both clinicians, and Danielle also offers sessions in Spanish.
Sessions are provided as psychotherapy services, and your receipt includes the clinician’s name, title and registration number along with the supervising clinician’s details so you can submit it to your benefits provider. Coverage varies considerably between plans, so we recommend confirming the details of your own coverage with your provider before your first session.
Start With a Free 15-Minute Call
Deciding to begin couples therapy is often the hardest part, and it is easier when you know exactly what you are signing up for. The first step is a short phone call with both of you, free of charge, to walk through the process and answer your questions.
Couples therapy is available in Nepean and Stittsville, in person or virtually, with no current wait time.