Our approach to couples therapy

Couples work at Rising Rose Relational Therapy is structured and skills-based: a clear assessment, a map of your relationship, and tools you can use at home. It is not open-ended venting. You meet with Anjelica M. Nelson, M.Ed, LPCC-S, IMFT-S, by telehealth from anywhere in Ohio. The person you meet on the fit call is the therapist you will work with.

What working together looks like

1. A free 15-minute fit call. You describe what's happening. Anjelica asks a few questions and tells you honestly whether she thinks she can help. If it isn't the right fit, she'll say so.
2. Intake paperwork. If there's a fit, you receive informed consent, telehealth consent, and a Good Faith Estimate. A card is stored before the first session.
3. A couples assessment. It begins with an 80-minute joint session, followed by a session with each partner. Questionnaires are used when they are clinically relevant. For couples, Anjelica offers Gottman couples assessments within this structure.
4. A map. You get a clear picture of your friendship, how conflict goes between you, and the shared life you're building. That map becomes the plan for what happens each week.
5. Weekly work. Sessions are 50 or 80 minutes. The focus is on skills you can use between sessions, so the work leaves the room with you.

Three areas the work focuses on

• Friendship. Knowing each other again: fondness, attention, and the small turns toward one another that keep a relationship alive.
• Conflict. How you start a hard conversation, how you repair after one goes badly, and how you reach a compromise you can both live with.
• Shared life. Rituals, roles, goals, and the life you are building on purpose, not by accident.

A written no-secrets policy

The individual sessions are part of the assessment. They are not a parallel therapy with hidden material, and nothing shared there is kept from the relationship. The policy is written down.

Who this approach is for

Anjelica works with couples who are preparing for marriage, married, recovering from an affair, deciding whether to stay together, becoming parents, or navigating high-conflict co-parenting. You can read more about premarital counseling, affair recovery, and discernment counseling. Anjelica is an LGBTQ-affirming therapist, and everyone is welcome; see LGBTQ+ couples therapy. She also works with families (ages 10 and up) and individuals (ages 18 and up). Learn more about Anjelica.

What this approach is not

It is not open-ended venting. It is not a crisis service: if anyone is in danger, call 988 or 911, or go to the nearest emergency department. And it is not a promise. No therapist can say how a couple's story will end, and couples therapy takes effort from both people. If there is a safety concern in your relationship, say so privately on the fit call so Anjelica can talk through what would be appropriate.

Telehealth, cash-pay, and practical details

All sessions are by telehealth, for couples anywhere in Ohio. Both partners need to be physically in Ohio for every session, and your location is confirmed at the start of each one. See online couples therapy in Ohio for the setup.

Rising Rose is cash-pay. HSA and FSA cards are accepted, superbills are available on request, and every cash-pay client receives a Good Faith Estimate. Cancellations or no-shows with less than 24 hours' notice are charged the full session fee. Current fees and policies are on the fees page.

Start with a fit call

Fifteen minutes, free, no pressure. Request a fit call, or read what to expect as a new client. Comparing therapists? Here is how to choose a couples therapist.