Most therapy practices won't post their fees. I will. You shouldn't have to guess.
What Couples Therapy Costs With Me
As low as $250 per clinical hour. Self-pay. Full discretion.
The
Couple Roadmap
$1,500 · 6 hours
Where every couple starts.
Two hours together. One hour with each of you alone. Two hours back together for the feedback session, where you'll leave with a clear read on what's actually happening between you and what to do about it.Most couples have never had anyone look at the whole picture before. This is that.
Twelve
Week Commitment
$3,000 · 12 sessions
The work itself.
Twelve weeks is what it takes to interrupt the cycle you're stuck in and build something new in its place. Twelve weeks of structured EFT work with a specialist who's done this thousands of times.
You'll know in the Roadmap feedback session whether this is the right next step. No pressure to decide before then.
$250
per Clinical Hour
$250 · 60 Mintues
With a commitment.
When you commit to The Couple Roadmap or the Twelve-Week or another structured program, your rate is $250 per clinical hour. This is the rate the work was designed around.
Couples who commit get better outcomes. The pricing reflects that.
$305
per Clinical Hour
$250 · 60 Mintues
Session by session.
Some couples aren't ready to commit, or have already done the deeper work and want occasional sessions. The one-off rate is $305 per clinical hour.
No package, no minimum, no pressure. Book what you need.
$250
Rate
Lock
$250 · 60 Mintues
Two-year rate lock.
For couples who finish what they start.
Complete a Twelve-Week Commitment and your rate stays at $250 per clinical hour for two full years from the day you started. Come back for a tune-up, a hard week, a new chapter. Same rate.
The work doesn't end at session twelve. Neither does the relationship.
Start with The First Session.
Two hours. $500. No commitment.
This isn't a consult or a chemistry check. It's Session 1 of The Couple Roadmap — a structured couples therapy assessment built on Sue Johnson's Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) protocol and John Gottman's research methods. The same first session I run with every couple I work with at my Foothills right above Goldenboffice and via telehealth across Colorado, whether they continue or not.
In two hours, we'll start to name the cycle you're stuck in. Sue Johnson calls it the music of the dance — the pattern running underneath every fight, every shutdown, every long silence. Most couples have lived inside their cycle for years without being able to see it. Two hours is usually enough to start.
Book a free 20-minute consult →
You'll leave knowing:
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The shape of your negative cycle and the position each of you takes in it
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What's actually driving the fights, underneath the content
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Whether EFT couples therapy is the right approach for what you're dealing with
If you don't continue, you'll still leave with a clearer read on your relationship than most couples ever get.
A Note from Dr. O'Malley on Fees
DIGNITY FIRST.
JUST THE NUMBERS.
I've stared at a therapist's website, doing the fee math in my head, wondering if I could afford the help my family needed. So I want to be honest with you about my fees. Most of my clients pay $250 dollars a clinical hour. For folks who do not want to commit to the process, I am still willing to give it a go at 305 a clinical hour.
I'm not the cheapest couples therapist in the area, and I know I'm not the most expensive. I run a small practice on purpose. I'm also a Teaching Professor at the University of Denver, where I train the next generation of counselors and try to publish research, or at least try to when my two young daughters aren't reminding me I'm not nearly as in control of my life as I'd like to be. I see a limited number of couples each week because that's what lets me actually do this work the way it needs to be done.
The PhD, the advanced EFT training, the Gottman Method certification. None of that came cheap, and I'm still paying it down. So when I tell you I get it, I actually get it.
There are good clinicians in this area at lower price points, and I've listed a few I respect at the bottom of this page. Go where the work can actually happen. No hard feelings, no pitch.
If we're a fit, here's what makes sense. Book a free 20-minute call. If it feels right, come in for the First Session. Two hours at the $250 committed rate, $500 total, no commitment beyond that. It's Session 1 of the Couple Roadmap, my structured assessment built on Sue Johnson's EFT protocol and John Gottman's research methods. You'll leave with a real read on the cycle you're stuck in. If you continue, the Roadmap ends with a printed report on what's actually happening in your relationship and what to do about it. The kind of report most couples never get from years of weekly therapy, let alone six hours.
That's it. That's the offer. I'd rather you walk in with clear eyes than walk in because I sold you something.
— John
John O'Malley, PhD, LPC,
Founder, OMAlley Counseling PLLC
A Note on Investment
Dr. O'Malley works with a small number of couples by design. Not a high-volume practice. A high-quality one.
The commitment upfront matters — for both of you. Couples who come in clear about their intention to do the work see faster results, stay more engaged between sessions, and get more out of every hour. That clarity keeps the work honest. It also keeps Dr. O'Malley's caseload small enough to give every couple his full attention.
Research is clear: Couples see real change in as few as eight sessions. Twelve is the sweet spot — enough to understand the cycle, break it, and build something different. That's exactly what the Twelve-Week Commitment is built around. At $250 per session, you are getting a PhD-level clinician trained in EFT and the Gottman Method under internationally certified supervisors — a credential held by fewer than a few hundred therapists worldwide — who is completing advanced AASECT sex therapy certification. That rate sits well below what this training commands in the Denver Front Range market.
On the long view: couples who complete the Twelve-Week Commitment also lock in the Returning Couples Rate. $250 per session for any future couples work, for two years. Once you've done the deep work, that rate stays with you. It's the practice's way of saying — when life requires it again, come back. The door stays open.
On insurance: Most plans do not cover couples therapy unless one partner carries a billable mental health diagnosis. Even when sessions are billed under CPT code 90847 (Conjoint Psychotherapy with the patient present), the insurer requires a diagnosed individual on the claim — which means a permanent mental health record, capped session counts, an approach driven by what's reimbursable rather than what's clinically right, and a billing code in the driver's seat instead of you.
Private pay means you decide when the work is done. The couples who get results here stop waiting for the perfect moment.
What EFT Couples Therapy
Costs & Looks Like in Practice
THREE WAYS THIS GOES.
The Couple Roadmap is the same six hours for everyone. It's a structured EFT couples therapy assessment offered in person at my Genesee office and via telehealth across Colorado. What happens after is different for every couple. Here are three patterns I see most often. If one of them sounds like where you are right now, the next step is a free 20-minute call.
The personas below are illustrations written to help you see yourself in the work that happens in this couple's therapy practice. None of them are clients, current or past. To be sure no real couple's story could be confused for one of these, I chose every name from my own family. The patterns they reflect, however, are real and recurring.
HERE'S WHAT TO DO NEXT
Most couples who get on a call with me decide to start. The first conversation costs nothing. If you're still hesitating, it's probably one of these:
"We can't afford it." The Twelve-Week Commitment is $3,000. A contested divorce in Colorado starts at $15,000 and climbs from there. The cost of an unrepaired marriage — financially, physically, emotionally — is the most expensive thing on this page, and it's the one nobody puts a price tag on.
"My partner won't come." Most couples I see had one partner who said yes faster than the other. The first call is just with you. No pressure on them yet. We'll talk about how to bring them into the conversation, and whether what you're describing is something I can actually help with.
"It's too late for us." Across three decades of research on Emotionally Focused Therapy, the couples who came in most distressed made the biggest gains. Late doesn't mean too late. It usually means you've been carrying this alone for a long time.
"I don't have time for this." The Assessment is six hours over two to three weeks. The Twelve-Week Commitment is one hour a week. If you have time to fight about the dishwasher for forty-five minutes on a Tuesday night — and most couples I see do — you have time for this.
"What if it doesn't work for us?" That's exactly what the Couples Assessment is built to answer. Six hours of structured clinical work, a complete picture of what's actually happening in your relationship, and a feedback session where I tell you directly whether ongoing work makes sense. If the answer is no, you'll know. That's not a sales pitch — that's the design.
The consult is a conversation, not a pitch. I won't ask you to commit to anything on the call.
If we're not a fit, I'll tell you, and I'll point you to someone who might be
FAQ on Fees
How much does couples therapy cost?
Couples therapy in this practice runs from $250 to $305 per clinical hour, depending on whether you're enrolled in a structured program or booking sessions on a per-session basis. Full programs are priced as packages: The Couple Roadmap is $1,500 for six hours of structured assessment, and the Twelve-Week Commitment is $3,000 for twelve sessions of EFT couples therapy.
Do you take insurance?
No. This is a self-pay practice. I don't bill insurance, accept insurance reimbursement, or provide superbills for out-of-network claims. Couples who want a mental health diagnosis on file for insurance purposes should look elsewhere. The trade-off: no diagnosis is required, nothing is filed, and your sessions remain fully private.
Why is your practice self-pay instead of insurance-based?
Two reasons. First, discretion. Insurance billing requires a mental health diagnosis on file, which can affect security clearances, professional licensure, and life insurance applications. These are concerns that matter to the physicians, attorneys, and executives this practice serves. Second, treatment fit. Insurance dictates session length, frequency, and approach. Self-pay lets the work follow what's clinically needed, not what's approved.
What's included in the Couple Roadmap fee?
The $1,500 Couple Roadmap fee covers six hours of structured clinical work: the First Session (two hours together), one hour with each of you individually, a structured conflict observation, and a two-hour feedback session where you leave with a printed report on what's driving your cycle and what to do about it. The Roadmap draws from Sue Johnson's EFT protocol and Gottman Method research.
Are there lower-cost options if your fees are out of reach?
Yes. If my fees are too high for where you are right now, there are good clinicians in the foothills above Golden and across the Denver metro at lower price points. I've listed a few I respect at the bottom of this page. The work matters more than where you do it. Go where it can actually happen.