RELATIONSHIP THERAPY

Therapy for couples who can’t figure out why you keep ending up in the same place.

You’ve tried. You still love each other. You’re exhausted from carrying something you can’t seem to resolve.

The reasons couples become stuck vary: past wounds, stress, betrayal, life transitions, years of unmet needs, or simply never having seen a healthy relationship modeled.

Three Paths. One Goal:
Lasting Connection

The arKardia Method™ approaches relationships through a whole-person lens. Just as individual healing requires understanding the biological, psychological, relational, and spiritual dimensions of a person, relationship healing requires understanding how those same dimensions interact between two people and the relationship they share.

What’s different here is what we’re listening for underneath the conversation. The fear that triggered the reaction, the meaning each person made of it, the protective move that followed. That’s where the cycle lives. And that’s where it can actually change.

In couples work, the relationship itself is the client. My role is not to determine who is right but to understand what is helping the relationship thrive and what is keeping it stuck. That requires both compassion and accountability and, at times, directly challenging patterns that are contributing to the problem.

Couple laughing together on a couch, representing the connection couples therapy at arKardia in Gettysburg, PA helps restore.
Couple holding hands, representing the trust rebuilt through relationship therapy at arKardia in Gettysburg, PA.

Relationship Therapy Services

Couple embracing in a field, representing couples therapy sessions offered at arKardia in Gettysburg, PA.

Couples Therapy

Self-pay only, no insurance accepted

Couples therapy offers a consistent space to slow recurring patterns down, strengthen emotional safety, and create lasting change over time. A 90-minute session is tailored to your relational history, current circumstances, and goals.

Together, we work to understand what is happening beneath recurring conflict, repair trust where it has been damaged, strengthen communication, and create new ways of listening and loving one another.

Some couples come in during a crisis and need space to stabilize before anything else. Others come in doing reasonably well and want to get ahead of patterns before they harden.

Couples therapy may be a good fit if:

  • You find yourselves having the same arguments
  • Communication often leads to defensiveness or withdrawal
  • Trust has been damaged and needs intentional repair
  • You feel disconnected despite genuinely loving one another
  • You want to strengthen your relationship before problems become larger
  • You desire greater emotional, relational, or spiritual intimacy

Sessions are available in-person in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and via telehealth in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.

  • Initial intake session: $300
  • Couples therapy session (90 min): $260
Contact me to get started
Couple embracing closely outdoors, representing arKardia's Custom Consultative Suite, an alternative to couples therapy for relationship guidance.

Custom Consultative Suite

Not every couple who reaches out is looking for therapy, some couples are seeking clarity.

The Custom Consultative Suite is for couples who want an experienced perspective and practical recommendations.

This may be especially helpful when navigating significant life decisions, relationship transitions, leadership pressures, blended family dynamics, premarital preparation, or recurring areas of conflict that would benefit from structure and expert solutions.

What’s Included

  • Pre-consultation questionnaires to gather background information
  • Two 90-minute Strategic Planning Sessions focused on your goals, relationship dynamics, and areas of concern
  • Personalized recommendations and practical strategies
  • Curated resources tailored to your situation
  • A written summary highlighting key observations, strengths, themes, recommendations, suggested resources, and possible next steps
  • A 50-minute follow-up consultation to answer questions

Because consultation is distinct from psychotherapy, it does not establish a clinical treatment relationship. Consultation does not include diagnosis, treatment, or psychotherapy services.

Investment: $995

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Focused healing intensives

Many couples arrive knowing exactly what keeps happening. What they need is enough time, support, and structure to finally work through it. Weekly therapy often ends just as important work is beginning. An immersive experience allows us to stay with the process long enough for something to actually shift. 

You may explore more on the focused healing intensives page.

A note on safety and fit

Emotional and physical safety are foundational to successful couples work. If there is ongoing abuse, coercive control, intimidation, or fear within the relationship, couples therapy can sometimes do more harm than good. No one is responsible for causing another person to abuse, control, threaten, or harm them.

Similarly, active addiction or untreated substance dependence may need to be addressed before meaningful couples work can occur. arKardia Counseling & Consulting does not provide addiction treatment services, but trusted referrals and recommendations can be provided when appropriate.

If I believe couples therapy is not the best starting point, I will discuss that openly and help you understand what level of support may be most beneficial.

Michele Montenegro, relationship therapy provider at arKardia in Gettysburg, PA, ready to help couples find the right path forward.

Not sure which path fits?

That’s normal. Most couples don’t reach out knowing exactly what service they need. They simply know something isn’t working and they want help finding a different path forward.

Before we schedule your first appointment, we’ll have a brief discovery call. It’s simply a chance for us to talk, for you to ask questions, and to see whether arKardia feels like the right place for you.

I hope you’ll leave that conversation feeling like you’ve met someone you can trust and talk openly with. But therapy is personal, and not every therapist is the right fit for every person.

If, after a session or two, you don’t feel like we’re the right fit, that’s completely okay. Your needs are always more important than my feelings. I’ll never be offended, and I’ll help you find another therapist who can help you.

Contact me to get started

A space designed for you

Sometimes a session ends and you need a few moments to gather your thoughts, sit quietly, pray, or simply transition before stepping back into the rest of your day.

For that reason, arKardia includes a private reflection room adjacent to the therapy office. Clients are welcome to use the space before or after sessions as needed. Some spend a few moments journaling. Others pray. Some simply sit in silence.

Questions about relationship therapy?


My role is to advocate for the health and healing of your relationship, not to decide who’s right.

When I work with an individual, my responsibility is to support that person’s health and healing. In couples therapy, the relationship becomes my client. My focus shifts to understanding the patterns between you and helping you build a relationship where both people feel safer, more understood, and more connected.

That doesn’t mean I remain neutral when something is harmful. If words or behaviors are unhealthy, unloving, or inconsistent with the relationship you both want to create, I’ll address them with honesty, compassion, and respect. 
What I’m working toward is helping each of you understand what’s happening beneath the conflict, so lasting change becomes possible, not assigning blame or naming a winner.

Often, yes. The length of the struggle doesn’t determine whether change is possible.

What matters more is whether both people are willing to honestly examine the patterns between them, remain open to understanding themselves and each other, and do the difficult work that healing often requires.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before you begin. You don’t even need to feel hopeful every day. But it does help if there’s still a desire or at least a willingness to explore whether the relationship can become something healthier than it is today.

In my experience, couples who continue to care about one another, even beneath years of hurt, often have more hope than they realize.

That said, couples therapy is not appropriate when there is ongoing abuse or when one person’s emotional or physical safety is at risk. In those situations, safety must always come first.

It’s common for partners to begin therapy with different hopes, questions, or levels of readiness.

Sometimes one person is eager to work on the relationship while the other feels uncertain. Sometimes one hopes to repair the relationship, while the other isn’t sure what they want. Wherever you begin, my role isn’t to pressure either of you toward a particular outcome.

We’ll first work to understand where each of you is to help you gain greater clarity about yourselves and your relationship. Often, that process helps couples move toward the same page. If, over time, it becomes clear that your paths are different, we can shift our focus toward helping you navigate that transition with honesty, respect, and as much health as possible.

No one can be forced to stay in a relationship, and meaningful couples therapy requires both people to participate willingly.

Not at all.

While my faith shapes who I am, I work with people from many different backgrounds and beliefs. Some clients want faith woven throughout therapy. Others prefer clinical care with no faith component at all.

We’ll work in a way that respects your values, your goals, and what feels meaningful to you.

Working outside of insurance allows therapy to be guided by your needs rather than someone else’s requirements.

It gives greater flexibility in how I structure sessions, recommend treatment, and protect your privacy. If you have out-of-network benefits, I’m happy to provide the documentation needed for possible reimbursement.

Expect a conversation. The first appointment is less about treatment and more about understanding you as a couple.

We’ll complete a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, which simply means I’ll take time to get to know you as a whole person. We’ll talk about what’s bringing you in, your current concerns, your relationships, your health, important life experiences, your strengths, and what you hope will be different.

There is no pressure to share every detail of your story in the first session. We’ll go at a pace that feels manageable to you.