Couples Psychologists in Colombo

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

Both partners usually attend ¹. 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. Ask a practitioner which approach they use.

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.

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.

National Institute of Mental Health Sri Lanka Navodaya Psychological Treatment Service. Phone +94 11 2578556. All curative services at public health institutions are funded by the state and free to citizens. Members of the public can book the Navodaya day service. You need a clinical assessment, and appointments must be booked three working days ahead.

Usually. Partners are almost always seen together¹. 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 sessions². 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.

Not for counsellors. The Sri Lanka Medical Council regulates medical, dental and allied healthcare professionals, the last under the Medical (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2006³. Its Allied Health Register includes clinical psychologists, but not counsellors or any couples or family category⁴. You can search that register on the council's website⁵.

So ask what the qualification is, where it was awarded, and which body a practitioner is accredited with.

Most of the couples-qualified practitioners on our own listings are in Colombo, with a few elsewhere⁶.

Many practitioners work by video and say so on their listing. That is what makes the work reachable from outside the city. Psychotherapy delivered live by video reaches outcomes close to in- person work, across therapies in general⁷.

Ask about travel time and about video in the same message.

Practice differs on what comes first. Some approaches open with a formal assessment that combines joint and individual meetings. Others use no set assessment stage¹.

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?

Employer and private policies set their own outpatient benefits, and counselling is often outside them.

Ask your insurer whether outpatient consultations are covered and with which categories of practitioner, and ask the practitioner what they are able to invoice.

There is no threshold you have to cross first. Relationship distress is one of the commonest reasons adults seek psychotherapy at all⁸.

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 household¹.

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.

The title you will see is Clinical Psychologist. The Sri Lanka Medical Council keeps the register.

See the Sri Lanka page.