Sometimes, yes... but there are important limits around this that are designed to protect the therapy process and maintain clear therapeutic boundaries.
It’s fairly common in individual therapy for a therapist to occasionally invite a partner into a session or two to better understand relationship dynamics, improve communication, or support the work happening in therapy. In some situations, therapy may even transition into ongoing couples therapy, depending on the goals and circumstances involved.
However, we generally do not allow the same therapist to provide separate ongoing individual therapy to both members of a couple. Doing so can create conflicts of interest, strain the therapist’s neutrality, and make it more difficult for both people to feel emotionally safe and fully open in their individual work.
If one partner is already seeing a therapist in our practice and the other partner would also like support, we’re usually happy to help connect them with a different Clarity Counseling Seattle therapist whose availability and specialty areas may be a good fit.
These boundaries are not about secrecy or exclusion. They exist to help preserve trust, clarity, fairness, and the integrity of the therapeutic relationship for everyone involved.
If you have questions about whether individual counseling, couples therapy, or a combination of both might make sense for your situation, our intake coordinator can help guide you through the options.