Couples Therapy in Springfield, MO
Couples therapy gives both of you a place to be heard, and a way back toward each other.
Our clinicians support couples across southwest Missouri and the Springfield, Missouri community, whether you are in a hard season or want to strengthen something that already matters to you.
- For married and unmarried partners
- Both of you are heard
- Paired with individual work when it helps
- Gottman Method and PACT
What couples therapy is for
Most couples come in because the same painful conversation keeps happening. You might be arguing more, or talking less. Trust may have been broken. A move, a baby, an illness, or a loss may have changed how you fit together.
In couples therapy, your therapist works with the relationship itself. The goal is not to decide who is right. It is to understand the pattern the two of you get caught in, what each of you needs underneath it, and how to find your way back to each other when things get hard.
How the work usually unfolds
Your story as a couple
Your therapist learns how you met, what has been hard, and what each of you hopes will be different.
Seeing the cycle, not the villain
Together you map the pattern that repeats between you, so it becomes something you face as a team.
What each of you needs
Hard moments usually carry fear, hurt, or longing. Naming them makes it easier to respond to each other with care.
Practicing something different
You try new ways of talking, repairing, and reaching for each other, first in session and then at home.
Gottman Method and PACT
We have clinicians trained in the Gottman Method and in PACT, the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy.
PACT was developed by Dr. Stan Tatkin. It draws on attachment theory, developmental neuroscience, and the biology of arousal: how each partner’s body and nervous system respond from moment to moment. In a PACT session, you and your therapist pay close attention to small shifts in each partner’s face, body, and voice, and you practice noticing and responding to each other in real time.
Who you will work with
All of our clinicians can work with couples. Tell us what you are looking for and our intake team will match you with someone who has openings.
When painful experiences from the past keep showing up in the relationship, individual work, including EMDR, can sit alongside couples therapy. Learn about EMDR at Beyond
What the research says
Couple therapy helps with more than the relationship
A 2025 review gathered the evidence from meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and controlled trials on couple and family-based therapy for adults. It supports couple therapy for relationship distress, and also for anxiety, low mood, alcohol problems, and adjusting to a serious physical illness. For relationship distress, couple therapy did better than individual therapy.
Worth knowing: this is a summary of other studies, so the strength of evidence varies from one problem to the next.
A. Carr, 2025, Journal of Family Therapy
Several couple therapies have research behind them
A 2026 review applied the American Psychological Association’s criteria to 40 studies of couple therapy for relationship distress. Seven approaches showed modest support, including the Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and behavioral and cognitive-behavioral couple therapy.
Worth knowing: no approach met the bar for strong support yet, mostly because studies were small and had not been repeated by independent teams. The authors call for larger trials.
J. B. Jackson and colleagues, 2026, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
Cost and insurance
Most of our counselors operate on a self-pay basis, with rates that vary by provider level. A small number of our clinicians are in-network with Cox HealthPlans, and we can provide a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement. Insurance and payment information
Other ways we can help
Couples therapy is one part of counseling at Beyond Healing. If one of you is also looking for medication support, Beyond Healing Psychiatry offers psychiatric evaluation and medication management. Call (417) 641-2406.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to be married?
No. Couples therapy is for partners in any committed relationship, whether you are dating, engaged, married, or somewhere else.
What if my partner is not ready to come?
You can start on your own. Individual counseling can help you understand your part in the pattern, and your partner can join later if you both choose.
Will the therapist take sides?
No. Your therapist’s job is to help both of you feel heard and to work with the pattern between you, not to decide who is right.
Can we still get individual therapy too?
Yes. Sometimes one or both partners also see an individual therapist. Your couples therapist can talk with you about whether that would help.
Does insurance cover couples therapy at Beyond Healing Center?
Most of our counselors operate on a self-pay basis. A small number of our clinicians are in-network with Cox HealthPlans, and we can provide a superbill if you have out-of-network benefits. See our insurance and payment page for details.