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Amwell, Regain, Lasting, and Happily Ever After all provide top online marriage counseling options for newlyweds, communication, and more.

Service and priceTherapy format(s)
Amwelli
$109–$129
video conference, phone
Talkspacei
varies
text, video and audio messaging, live sessions
Our Relationship
$99–$249
video, phone, chat
Regain
$60–$100
video, phone, messaging
Growing Self
$85–$170
video
Couples Therapy Inc.
starts at $150
video
Lasting
$29.99
app (Android and Apple)
Happily Ever After
$97
any device with internet connection

i =Insurance accepted

There’s no way around it. Successful, lasting marriages require work. Finding the right partner generally marks an important first step, but that’s only the beginning of your story.

Even when you enjoy each other’s company, share interests, and have similar desires for your future, your partnership won’t always follow a gentle, wildflower-strewn trail. From time to time, you might find yourself veering into uncharted territory, particularly when you:

You might put in plenty of effort to resolve these concerns, with less-than-rewarding results. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on each other or your marriage.

If you and your partner have found it tough to pick up the same book, much less reach the same page, professional support from a trained marriage counselor can go a long way toward improving your relationship.

If you’re on a tight budget or without insurance, there are even free couples counseling options out there.

Best for insurance coverage

  • Cost: $109 or $129 per session, depending on counselor’s education
  • Insurance: accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: video conference, phone

Amwell offers marriage counseling from psychologists and therapists. Unlike many other therapy services, Amwell has online marriage counseling that takes insurance and works directly with some health insurance plans.

Amwell’s therapists help couples with various marital issues, like conflict resolution, communication problems, parenting differences, infidelity, sexual issues, and financial hardship.

At the initial session, you’ll answer targeted questions about your relationship, including how you communicate and what you’d like to get out of online marriage counseling. Your therapist will then suggest a treatment plan targeted to your specific needs.

Best for heavy communication

  • Cost: varies
  • Insurance: accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: text, video and audio messaging, live sessions

Marriage counseling is one of the many mental health therapy services Talkspace offers. The process begins by talking with your partner to get on the same page about the issues you’ll work on in counseling.

You’ll answer some questions and, from there, you’ll be matched with a licensed therapist who will get to know your goals and needs.

Your Talkspace therapist can help you strengthen your relationship by resolving conflicts, uncovering issues and dysfunction, and gaining empathy and trust.

Best evidence-backed approach

  • Cost: $99 or $249 with the coaching option
  • Insurance: not accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: online lessons and coaching via video, phone, or chat

Our Relationship’s self-directed program offers a great way to dip your toes in the water if you feel uncertain about traditional marriage counseling.

You can get started with just your computer and an internet connection, and you can fit the online lessons in around your schedules. Most people complete the program in 2 months.

If you choose to pay for coaching, you can access support from coaches for 2 months.

This program, which is adapted from integrative behavioral couples therapy, features unique lessons for military, nonbinary, same-sex, and heterosexual couples.

You can also complete the program alone, but involving your partner will usually lead to better results.

A 2016 study of 300 heterosexual couples explored the effectiveness of Our Relationship. Researchers described the program as an affordable, accessible approach that worked to improve individual well-being and function along with relationship health.

Best for flexible scheduling

  • Cost: about $60–$90 per week, billed monthly
  • Insurance: not accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: video, phone, messaging

Regain, a branch of BetterHelp dedicated to couples therapy, has licensed, experienced therapists available, so you’ll be able to schedule online sessions or text your therapist even if you have a packed schedule.

Your therapist will work with you and your partner to find session times and formats that work best for you, whether that involves one long session each week or a few shorter sessions.

While you don’t have the option to choose your counselor, all Regain therapists have at least 3 years of experience. They have a variety of therapy backgrounds and credentials, but they all specialize in relationship counseling.

Best for a free consultation

  • Cost: $85–$170 per session, based on clinician education and experience as well as your ability to pay (sliding-scale rates in some cases)
  • Insurance: not accepted, but can help you make an out-of-network claim in some situations
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: video

The trained, experienced marriage and family therapists at Growing Self use evidence-based marriage counseling techniques to help you improve your marriage and grow together.

The service’s action-oriented approach aims to promote fast and noticeable results in everyday interactions and communication, along with the strength of your bond.

With flexible evening and weekend online appointments, it may be easier to find a session time that works for you.

Not sure about your goals for marriage counseling, or the specific issues you want to address first? Growing Self offers an online marriage counseling free consultation to help you explore your needs and consider your counseling options.

Best for intensive counseling

  • Cost: starts at $150 per session, and prices for in-depth assessments, intensive counseling, and retreats vary
  • Insurance: not accepted
  • Availability: available in most states, plus Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Singapore
  • Therapy format: video

The experienced therapists at Couples Therapy Inc. have experience in research-backed couples counseling techniques, including emotionally focused couples therapy and the Gottman method (a popular approach that helps couples deepen their connection and work through conflict).

You’ll find eight certified Gottman therapists on the team. Only about 350 people worldwide have this certification.

Trying to decide whether you want to end your marriage or give it another chance? Couples Therapy Inc. also offers discernment counseling, which can help you and your partner reach a decision on your next steps.

Couples Therapy Inc. offers counseling in traditional 50-minutes sessions, along with brief intensive counseling that takes place over a long weekend.

You can start with a thorough assessment that helps you narrow down and explore specific areas of concern. The website also offers nationwide relationship coaching at $119 per session plus a free 19-lesson online couples therapy course.

Best for ongoing self-help

  • Cost: $29.99 per month (discounts available)
  • Insurance: not accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: Android and Apple app only

Just as the name implies, Lasting aims to promote long-term marital health by helping you navigate various relationship challenges, like conflict avoidance, trust issues, emotional intimacy, and communication.

Founded on attachment theory principles, Lasting also includes aspects of other therapy approaches, including emotionally focused therapy, mindfulness, and the Gottman method.

The app gives you access to more than 300 guided sessions and virtual workshops with relationship therapy experts. It’s also designed to pair well with face-to-face couples counseling, so you can involve your therapist in the process.

You can even use this app as a preventive measure to boost intimacy and hone communication skills before you begin to notice recurring issues. Another benefit? It comes with a 1-week free trial.

Best for newlyweds

  • Cost: $97 flat fee
  • Insurance: not accepted
  • Availability: nationwide
  • Therapy format: course content available on any device with an internet connection

If your marriage has fallen a little short of the fairytale ending you envisioned, Happily Ever After’s online course could help you take steps toward rekindling the magic.

Though designed as self-help premarital coaching for engaged couples, this course can still be beneficial if you’ve been married for much longer.

Founded on the idea that couples often have a hard time after marriage if they don’t talk about key issues beforehand, this self-directed online course centers on six core topics: money, self-discovery, conflict, sex and intimacy, family of origin, and communication.

You’ll start with an assessment of your relationship and then explore each of these lessons with a video, worksheets, and suggestions for putting new tools into practice.

It’s practically impossible for two people to agree on everything all the time, so arguments and conflict don’t automatically make your marriage a disaster or mean you should start considering divorce. Sometimes, you and your partner can even successfully address tension on your own.

At other times, navigating challenges can prove more of a delicate and difficult process, one where unbiased support from an experienced marriage counselor can make a huge difference.

Marriage counselors won’t say “You’re doomed” or give direct advice. Rather, they’ll help you build a toolbox of skills to:

What’s in a name?

You don’t actually need to be married to try marriage counseling. It can help you navigate concerns and areas of tension in any committed romantic relationship.

Marriage counselors can assist with a full assortment of relationship issues, from daily dilemmas (like communicating about finances) to more life-altering concerns (like healing after infidelity or deciding how to handle a parent’s long-term care).

Here are a few other things you might seek support for:

Marriage counseling doesn’t just help you address issues when they show up. It can also help you identify and explore potential trouble areas to build a conflict resolution toolbox before you even need it. Basically, anyone in a long-term relationship may find it useful.

Online marriage counseling services remove the need to commute, freeing up extra energy to work on what really matters: your relationship.

Online formats may be particularly helpful when you and your partner:

  • have busy schedules
  • spend time in different locations due to work or other commitments
  • need a more affordable approach to counseling
  • prefer nontraditional approaches, like online courses

Other online benefits

Any type of therapy offers a safe space to air concerns and talk through challenges, but you might still hesitate to share personal relationship issues with a therapist.

Online approaches can create an illusion of distance, increasing your sense of security and control, as several couples in a 2020 study found.

To create our list, we searched for services with:

  • widespread availability in the United States
  • favorable user reviews
  • solid privacy policies that ensure your information and confidentiality remain secure
  • easy-to-use features
  • therapist-backed and research-backed approaches
  • varying costs and formats to meet different therapy needs

While plenty of other online therapy platforms offer marriage counseling along with other therapy approaches, we focused on apps and online courses that offer only relationship and marriage counseling.

These services have one goal: to help you and your partner improve your marriage or partnership.

Your relationship is important and worth fighting for, so you want to take the time to find the right marriage counselor for you and your partner. Every counselor has different strengths and every couple has different needs, so don’t rush to commit to the first one you find online.

Here are some key things to consider first.

  • Reviews and reputation: The best recommendations come from people you know and trust. If they recommend a marriage counselor, it’s probably worth exploring. Otherwise, check out online reviews and records with licensing boards.
  • Similar values: While you don’t need to agree with your counselor about everything, it’s important to have a similar outlook and core values on marriage. Some therapists may take a faith-based perspective, while others use a more humanistic approach. If you’re working with someone who doesn’t relate to you, they could miss important cues.
  • Strategy and ideas: Your marriage counselor should have a strategy to help you address any issues. Find out what this looks like in advance, and after a couple of sessions, see if it’s working well for you and your partner. Part of this should mean getting proactive suggestions on things to do (or not do) in between sessions to put you and your partner on the path to a better future.
  • Results: You should see some changes and positive results after being in therapy for some time. Of course, miracles can’t be expected after even a few sessions, but progress is key and if you’re putting in the effort, your therapist should help you get there.

In a word: yes.

It’s true that marriage counseling won’t save every marriage. Still, it can absolutely be beneficial, according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

What’s more, you’ll most likely notice improvement in not just your marriage, but also your emotional and physical well-being.

As for online marriage counseling? Well, it goes without saying that online therapy approaches nearly always add a layer of convenience. Plus, research suggests that telemental healthcare, in general, can work well as an effective and accessible approach to therapy.

Any type of couples counseling or relationship therapy can lead to a stronger relationship.

Marriage counseling works from the assumption that you share a life and responsibilities and have entered into a binding and long-term partnership. Couples counseling can include a range of relationship types, including short-term dating and polyamorous relationships.

Usually, marriage or couples counseling is both brief and solution-focused, focusing in on problems and areas of conflict affecting daily life, such as parity in the household, cheating recovery, and intimacy.

Relationship therapy can involve similar goals, but you might also spend time exploring your compatibility or addressing more deep-seated concerns affecting your partnership, like attachment issues or childhood trauma.

You’ll nearly always get more out of marriage counseling if you and your partner both show up.

If they can’t or don’t want to attend, a therapist can still help you explore conflict, communication, and other relationship issues, plus offer support with putting these strategies into practice yourself.

Your therapist may also have a few recommendations for reaching your partner and encouraging them to consider therapy.

Most insurance plans cover marriage counseling in certain circumstances, like when one partner has a mental health diagnosis that creates challenges within your marriage, or if your employer’s mental health service includes relationship help.

Some online marriage counseling programs can offer guidance on using out-of-network benefits, but not every program does.

That said, many online marriage counseling services strive to make their programs affordable, recognizing that not every couple has extra funds to cover therapy. You can also often find programs that offer discounts or sliding scale fees.

For many, licensed marriage and family therapists that offer emotionally focused therapy are a great fit for helping repair relationships in areas like rebuilding trust, communication, and moving past infidelity. There are several techniques that can help couples in marriage counseling.

Your husband or partner might refuse to go to marriage counseling for many different reasons.
Some common ones include they think you can work through the issues on your own, or they might have had a negative past experience with counseling and feel it could ruin your relationship. There are plenty of constructive ways to work through this.

You can try supporting someone in your life with marital problems by:

  • Listening, empathizing, understanding, and expressing genuine interest while not giving specific advice.
  • Guiding them to find the right help they need for resolution (not convincing them to make a decision one way or another).
  • Suggesting books, websites, and resources that offer research and practical advice.
  • Sending notes of encouragement.

Any bone of contention in your marriage is worth digging out for your well-being and a stronger partnership. Just know you don’t have to do the digging alone.

Marriage counselors can offer guidance and support, online or in person. Online marriage counseling makes it even easier to access affordable help on your schedule from a convenient location, like your living room.

Most experts recommend seeking support early, when you first start to notice difficulties. So why not reach out today, and find out how online marriage counseling can improve your relationship?