Do You Need Couples Therapy or Individual Therapy?

Quick Summary

• Couples therapy focuses on improving the relationship by addressing communication, trust, conflict patterns, and shared goals.
• Individual therapy helps you work on personal challenges like anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, or emotional regulation.
• Choose couples therapy when the main issues involve the relationship itself (frequent conflict, disconnection, intimacy concerns, infidelity, or major life transitions).
• Choose individual therapy when your struggles are more internal and affecting your well-being or showing up in the relationship.
• Many people benefit from doing both at the same time, especially when personal and relational issues overlap.

Deciding between individual therapy and couples therapy depends on whether your challenges are more personal or relational. Both support healing, but they serve different purposes.

Couples therapy aims to resolve conflicts and strengthen the connection between partners, while individual therapy focuses on personal growth, emotional regulation, and self-improvement.

Whether you are trying to salvage your relationship or want to improve your mental health, knowing the difference between individual and couples therapy can be the first step toward a healthy, happy life with a rewarding relationship dynamic.

What is the Difference Between Couples Therapy & Individual Therapy?

Understanding the difference between individual and couples therapy can help you determine which path best suits your needs. Both fundamentally promote healing and growth, but the approaches and outcomes can differ.

What is couples therapy?

This form of therapy is designed to address issues between partners. Couples counseling can be a safe, neutral space for each of you to express feelings without judgment. A couples therapist acts as a mediator who can help you identify underlying conflicts that affect communication or trust in your relationship. Couples therapy is successful in most cases, too. According to some research, 90% of people see an improvement in their emotional health after seeking relationship counseling.

Couples therapy can be beneficial if the primary concern is about the relationship. Chronic arguing, feeling disconnected from one another, infidelity, or differences in parenting styles are all common relationship issues that therapy might help with.

Benefits of couples therapy can include:

• Improved communication
• Conflict resolution
• Strengthened relationship
• Enhanced intimacy
• Joint problem-solving

What is individual therapy?

Individual therapy focuses on personal growth and emotional well-being. It might be a good option if you have individual issues like depression, anxiety, trauma, or any other challenge in life that might be impacting your relationship.

When you seek individual counseling, you gain a private, safe space to explore your thoughts and behaviors. Therapy can help you understand yourself better and teach you coping strategies so you can make positive changes in your life and relationships.

Benefits of individual therapy sessions can include:

• Personal growth
• Customized strategy
• Increased self-awareness
• Empowered decision-making
• Independent healing

A Quick Comparison of Couples Therapy vs. Individual Therapy

If you’re still unsure which path is right for you, a side-by-side comparison can help. The table below breaks down the key differences between couples therapy and individual therapy, allowing you to decide which one aligns best with your current experience.

How Do I Know if Couples or Individual Therapy is Better For Me?

Choosing between couples therapy and individual therapy will impact your path and progress toward healing and growth. Looking closely at your needs can help you decide which type of therapy might be more appropriate.

Identifying the core issues you’re facing is essential. This is often the first step in determining the type of therapy that’s best for you. Consider how the problems you’re experiencing are affecting your personal well-being and your relationship. Asking yourself some reflective questions might help gauge whether your experience is more personal or relationship-focused.

• What is the main challenge I’m facing?
• Do my challenges relate more to how I feel and act individually or how we interact as a couple?
• How do my issues impact my relationship?
• How does my relationship affect my issues?
• What do I hope to achieve through therapy?
• Am I looking more for personal healing, to improve my relationship, or both?

When is couples therapy the better choice?

Whether it’s individual counseling for marriage or couples therapy together, seeking help is smart. The process is most beneficial when both partners are committed to improving things. To see optimal results, you must be willing to work together to resolve issues.

Couples therapy can be helpful in situations like:

• Dealing with infidelity
• Improving intimacy
• Navigating major life changes, like moving, family planning, or job changes
• Resolving ongoing conflict, especially if the same issues continuously arise with no resolution

Still unsure? Consider exploring the signs you need couples therapy.

When is individual therapy the better choice?

Individual therapy might be a better option when your issues are personal and mainly impact your mental health but aren’t directly related to your relationship (even if they may impact it). An individual session is also recommended if personal growth is the objective.

Individual therapy can be an excellent choice if you want help:

• Managing personal mental health issues like depression, anxiety, or stress
• Addressing past trauma
• Achieving personal development and self-improvement

“Couples therapy is better for people that have already had some experience with their own personal work (either through therapy, self-development, a course, etc.) Because relationships have a higher propensity to be successful, when individuals feel better. While we can heal ourselves, individually, through couples work, it is significantly more complicated than seeking individual therapy before couples.”

– Talkspace therapist, Dr. Meaghan Rice, PsyD, LPC

Can You Do Couples Counseling and Individual Therapy at the Same Time?

Yes, you can do couples counseling and individual therapy at the same time. Many people benefit from combining both because it allows them to work on personal issues privately while also addressing relationship dynamics with their partner. 

When you engage in couples therapy and individual therapy, you might see faster progress, clearer communication, and more balanced growth for you and your relationship as a whole. 

The benefits of doing couples counseling and individual therapy include:

• Comprehensive healing: When individual and couples therapy are pursued simultaneously, there’s a greater opportunity for healing to take place. Individual therapy lets you explore your personal issues, traumas, or mental health challenges that can impact your relationship in negative ways. At the same time, couples therapy can focus on the dynamics of your relationship as you focus on better communication, understanding each other, or gaining mutual respect. It’s a dual approach that addresses issues on both personal and relationship levels.
• A balanced perspective: Combining therapies can achieve a more balanced perspective that’s essential for growing as a person and in your relationship. Improving self-awareness and personal insight is often the goal of therapy during individual sessions. These personal insights can then be carried over into couples sessions, where both partners work to understand and integrate what they’ve learned to better the relationship.
• Enhanced support system: Having a couples therapist and an individual therapist offers a more well-rounded support system. Each mental health professional brings different insights and coping mechanisms to sessions, enhancing and enriching the therapeutic experience.
• Strengthen dynamics in the relationship: A combined approach will offer significantly strengthened relationship dynamics. You’ll likely become more personally fulfilled as you both become more self-aware. This means you each can contribute more positively to the relationship.
• Balanced growth: Maintaining balance ensures both partners feel fulfilled, prevents future resentments, and gives each of you space to grow — both together and as individuals.

FAQs About Couples Therapy and Individual Therapy

Can individual therapy make couples therapy more effective?

Yes. Individual therapy can make couples therapy more effective because it helps each partner understand their own emotions, triggers, and behavior patterns before addressing the relationship dynamics together. When you have better self-awareness and coping skills, couples' sessions tend to be more productive, less reactive, and more focused on solutions rather than rehashing old conflicts.

Should you start with individual therapy before beginning couples therapy?

It depends on your needs. If your main challenges come from personal mental health concerns — like anxiety, trauma, or emotional regulation — individual therapy may be the best starting point. If the central issues involve conflict, disconnection, or relationship dissatisfaction, couples therapy is usually more appropriate. Some people start with one and later add the other.

Should you see the same therapist for individual and couples therapy?

It’s usually not recommended to see the same therapist for both individual and couples therapy. When one therapist plays both roles, it can create conflicts of interest, make it harder to stay neutral during couples sessions, and may cause one partner to feel the therapist is “taking sides.” Most therapists prefer to keep these roles separate, allowing each partner to receive unbiased support individually while the relationship work remains balanced and fair in couples sessions.

What if my partner refuses to attend couples therapy?

If your partner refuses to attend couples therapy, you can still start individual therapy on your own. Working with a therapist individually can help you manage stress, clarify your needs, and understand the patterns affecting your relationship. While couples therapy is most effective when both partners participate, personal growth on your end can still help you improve communication, set healthier boundaries, and motivate your partner to join later.

Is couples therapy better than individual therapy for communication problems?

Generally, yes. Couples therapy is designed to improve communication patterns between partners and address the dynamics causing conflict. Individual therapy can help you develop your personal communication style, but couples therapy addresses how you communicate with each other.

Talkspace – Your Partner in Finding the Right Therapy

Choosing the best type of therapy can be transformative for your mental health and your relationship. Deciding to start therapy is commendable, but it’s essential to find the right therapeutic path that aligns with your needs and goals.

Understand that every person’s journey is unique. The importance of personalized therapy that caters to individual and relationship needs cannot be understated. Talkspace is an online therapy platform that makes it easy for you to access professional help in a way that fits your lifestyle and offers both individual and couples therapy online.

Talkspace ensures you have convenient, flexible, integrated services that offer the most comprehensive approach possible so you and your partner can work on personal growth and improve your relationship.

Learn more about individual or couples therapy online at Talkspace today.

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Sources:

1. About marriage and family therapists. What is Marriage and Family Therapy? https://www.aamft.org/About_AAMFT/About_Marriage_and_Family_Therapists.aspx. Accessed June 23, 2024.

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Talkspace articles are written by experienced mental health-wellness contributors; they are grounded in scientific research and evidence-based practices. Articles are extensively reviewed by our team of clinical experts (therapists and psychiatrists of various specialties) to ensure content is accurate and on par with current industry standards.

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