Couples therapy with Carl Argent in Southend-on-Sea and online across the UK

You may see these different names when looking for support. In my practice, they refer to relationship work that gives partners space to explore what is happening between them, how they communicate and what they want next. Marriage counselling is not a separate service with a different fee. You do not need to be married to attend couples therapy.

I offer in-person couples therapy in my private counselling room in Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea. You can read the room, access and travel information before deciding whether to attend. Online couples counselling is also available across the UK, with the same published session options and fees.

You do not need to wait until the relationship is in crisis. Counselling can be useful when the same difficulty keeps returning, when communication has become less safe or open, or when you want to strengthen the relationship before a transition or problem becomes harder to manage. Seeking support earlier can give you more room to understand the pattern and choose what happens next.

Individual counselling can give you space to explore your own experience, needs and choices, including relationship difficulties, even if your partner does not attend. Couples therapy focuses on the pattern between you and can be appropriate when you both want to explore it and can participate freely. You do not need to be certain which option fits before getting in touch. We can discuss this in a free introductory conversation. If there is fear, coercion or concern about safety, joint work may not be appropriate; we would consider a safer form of support.

Choose a calm moment and speak from your own experience: what you have noticed, how it affects you and what you hope could be different. An invitation is usually more helpful than pressure. Your partner can use the free consultation to ask questions without committing to therapy. Individual counselling may also be helpful for you in its own right, although it would not be used as a way to persuade or assess an absent partner.

No. Relationship counselling is available to people who are dating, cohabiting, engaged, married, in a civil partnership or exploring a different relationship structure. The important consideration is whether joint work feels sufficiently safe and whether I am the right therapist for what you want to address.

No. It is common for partners to begin with different levels of hope, uncertainty or commitment. We can make those differences part of the work without forcing an early decision or assuming that staying together must be the outcome.

Yes. If you feel too far apart to make progress together, we may agree to spend some time in individual sessions. This can give each of you space to reflect on your experience, needs and hopes before returning to the relationship work. We would agree the purpose, boundaries and how information from these sessions will be handled beforehand, so both of you understand the arrangement. Where there are concerns about safety, we will consider whether joint work is appropriate at all.

In the first session, I make space for each person’s perspective, what has brought you to therapy, what you hope might change and anything relevant to safety or the working agreement. Ongoing sessions usually begin with what has happened since we last met, before we slow down a live pattern, explore what sits underneath it and practise a more helpful way of responding.

This is relationship therapy, not mediation. I will not act as a judge or decide who has won an argument. I work to understand both experiences and the relationship pattern between you, while helping each person recognise impact and take appropriate responsibility. Balanced therapy does not mean being neutral about intimidation, coercion, violence or other behaviour that undermines safety.

There is no fixed number of sessions. Some couples use a focused period of therapy around a particular issue, while longstanding injuries or repeated patterns may need more time. We will agree what you want from the work and review progress regularly, so therapy continues because it remains purposeful rather than because you are committed to a predetermined course.

We can make room for different hopes without forcing a decision or assuming that staying together is the right outcome. I support separation and divorce from a relationship perspective, including the transition to co-parenting when children are involved. We can explore the feelings, communication and boundaries that come with this change, whether the future involves parenting together or another form of connection you both want. Joint work must be sufficiently safe and freely chosen. Read more about support through relationship transitions.

Common areas include recurring conflict, communication and listening difficulties, resentment, emotional distance, intimacy, trust, financial stress, parenting and co-parenting, family boundaries, neurodivergence, major life changes and uncertainty about whether to stay together. We can also explore your values, strengths and how you want to deepen your connection. I do not offer psychosexual counselling, so specialist support may be more appropriate for sexual difficulties. You do not need to reduce your relationship to one neat problem before getting in touch.

It can provide a structured place to understand what has happened, stabilise difficult conversations and explore whether trust can be rebuilt. The process may include making room for the injured partner’s questions and impact, supporting honest accountability, clarifying boundaries and noticing what repair would require. Therapy cannot guarantee reconciliation, but it can support a more informed and respectful way forward.

The fee per appointment is higher because relationship sessions are longer: 90 or 120 minutes. This gives each person time to speak and be heard, and gives us space to understand the pattern between you and work through difficult conversations at a manageable pace. The fee is for the whole session, rather than a separate charge for each person.

A 90-minute relationship session is £95 and a two-hour extended session is £135. Fees are payable in advance. Insurance and employee-benefit schemes have different requirements, so please check with your provider before booking and contact me to confirm whether I can work with that arrangement and what documentation I can provide. US-style superbills are not normally used in UK private practice.

I offer both: in-person sessions in Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea, and online sessions across the UK. Online sessions usually work best when you are both in the same space, but this is not compulsory. You can join from separate locations if needed. Each person needs privacy to speak openly and a reliable internet connection. We can discuss the arrangement that best supports your work together during the free introductory call.