Female Couples Psychologists in Chennai

Couples counselling works with two people, and with what happens between them. It does not treat one of them.

Both partners usually attend ³. Couples counselling works on repeated arguments, an affair, sex, money, parenting, or a decision about separating.

It does not rule on who is right. It is not for married couples alone.

If you are afraid of your partner, say so to the practitioner before any joint session is booked. Ask to be seen on your own first. The support numbers at the top of this page are for that situation.

Everyone on this page is listed under the professional title psychologist. Psychologists apply the study of the mind and behaviour to assist people through difficulty. Clinical psychologists work with people of all ages, with families, carers, teams and communities.

Assessment belongs to a psychologist's training, and sits alongside therapy. Clinical, counselling and educational psychology are different training routes. Each route emphasises different work.

Which titles are registered varies by country. Where the title is registered, the register says what it covers. Ask a psychologist which route they trained through, and what they work with most.

Our Chennai fee guide puts a session at ₹500 to ₹2,500. Those are advertised prices.

Government Kilpauk Medical College Department of Psychiatry. Phone +91 44 28364951. Section 18 of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 makes government-funded mental health treatment free for people living below the poverty line, and for people who are destitute or homeless. Essential psychotropic medicines are free to all patients at government-funded establishments. The psychiatry outpatient clinic sees new and review patients from Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 12:00. The free care under the statute is only for those protected groups.

• Government Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai offers a Family Counselling and Education Clinic in its Department of Psychiatry, at a published clinic hour on Saturdays.⁴

Usually. Partners are almost always seen together³. Couples sessions require safety.

Some practitioners will see one partner alone where the other will not attend. Ask what a practitioner does when one person is unwilling.

No. Couples counselling is for people in a relationship, married or not, of any gender, living together or not. The same practitioners work with couples deciding whether to separate, and with couples who have already separated and are parenting together. Say which of those describes you at first contact.

No. The work is with what happens between two people rather than with a verdict on either of them. Effective work with couples needs its own theories and methods, drawn from research on relationships. Ask a practitioner how they handle it when you disagree in the room.

Yes, and many practitioners offer it. Couples therapy by video shows few significant differences from face-to-face sessions⁵. Symptom reduction, engagement and the therapeutic alliance are comparable.

Sitting in the same room at home suits some couples and not others. Ask what a practitioner offers.

It depends on their category, because there is more than one register.

A clinical psychologist registers with the Rehabilitation Council of India⁶. Psychologists and counsellors in other categories fall under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions⁷. A psychiatrist is a doctor, and the National Medical Commission publishes the Indian Medical Register⁸.

Counselling has no single national title. Ask which body they are registered with, then look for the name on that body's register.

Each practitioner sets their own fee. Our guide to what therapy costs in Chennai sets out the usual ranges; ask each practitioner what a couples session costs.

Where a practitioner states a fee on their listing, that figure is their own. Ask before the first session. Ask too whether the fee runs per session or per person in the room.

Couple therapy is an effective treatment for relationship distress, and the main models reach broadly similar results⁹.

Behavioural, cognitive-behavioural, emotionally focused and integrative behavioural couple therapy meet the criteria researchers use for a well-established treatment¹⁰.

Those findings describe groups of couples in studies. They are not a forecast about any one relationship, and nobody listed here can promise you an outcome.

What the research does not settle is which approach suits you. Ask a practitioner how they work with two people, and what they do when the two of you want different things.

Practice differs on what comes first. Some approaches open with a formal assessment that combines joint and individual meetings. Others use no set assessment stage³.

In the first meeting you usually talk about why you are coming now, how each of you sees the problem, and what each of you wants changed.

Before you start, ask the practitioner these questions.

• Does the practitioner see each partner alone?
• What does the practitioner do with what one partner tells them in private?
• How will you know the work has finished?

The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 requires every insurer to make provision for medical insurance for the treatment of mental illness. It is to be on the same basis as cover for physical illness. India's insurance regulator put that to all insurers by circular¹¹.

Marriage counselling is not itself treatment of a mental illness. That direction does not settle whether a session with a couple is claimable on your policy.

Ask your insurer whether it covers outpatient consultations with your practitioner's category, and ask the practitioner what they can invoice.

There is no threshold you have to cross first. Relationship distress is one of the commonest reasons adults seek psychotherapy at all⁹.

Distress between partners travels. It is associated with mood, anxiety and substance-use difficulties in the partners themselves, and with difficulties for children in the household³.

Couples come with a repeating argument, with an affair, with a decision about whether to stay together, and with none of those. You do not have to agree on the problem before you make contact.

Titles you will see include Clinical Psychologist, Rehabilitation Psychologist and Psychologist.

In India registration goes by category: a clinical psychologist is enrolled on a statutory register. Counsellors come under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act 2021, which provides for their registration.

See the India page.