Catholic Marriage Counseling
Catholic marriage counseling with a therapist who understands the sacrament.
For a Catholic couple, a marriage in trouble is not only a relationship in trouble. It is a sacrament you stood inside a church and entered, in front of people whose opinion still matters to you, and that changes what admitting you are struggling costs. Maria Van Thienen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Weston with thirty years of practice. She is Catholic. She is not a priest, a deacon, or a parish counselor, and she will not tell you what the Church teaches, because you already know. What she offers is a room where you do not have to explain why leaving is not simply an option you can weigh like any other.
The particular weight Catholic couples carry
What often goes unsaid out loud.
- Arriving later than you should have, because admitting the marriage is failing feels like admitting a failure of faith
- Showing up to Mass together looking perfectly fine while nothing at home is fine
- Extended family who hold opinions about the marriage and hold them loudly
- Pressure to stay that is as heavy as the reasons to go, with neither being said out loud
- Families from Colombia, Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America, where the marriage does not belong only to the two of you
- Parents, godparents and siblings who are already part of the conversation
The weight you are carrying
The marriage does not belong only to the two of you.
Many Catholic couples arrive later than they should have. Not because they are stubborn, but because admitting the marriage is failing feels like admitting a failure of faith, and because a couple who is struggling often keeps showing up to Mass together looking perfectly fine.
There is also the extended family. In Weston, a great many families came from Colombia, Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America, and the marriage does not belong only to the two of you. Parents, godparents and siblings hold opinions and hold them loudly. Sometimes the pressure to stay is as heavy as the reasons to go, and neither is being said out loud.
Where therapy sits alongside the Church
Not a substitute for your parish, your priest, or your prayer life.
Therapy is not a substitute for your parish, your priest, or your own prayer life. It does not replace pre-Cana or a marriage retreat, and it is not annulment counseling.
It is the practical work: the patterns you have both fallen into, the arguments that follow the same track every time, the resentment that has been quietly accumulating for years. Those are not spiritual failures. They are the ordinary mechanics of two people living closely for a long time, and they respond to skilled work.
Some couples are seeing a priest at the same time. That is welcome, and Maria has no interest in competing with it.
An honest word
Whatever you decide, decide it having genuinely tried.
Some marriages should not continue, and a therapist who tells you otherwise before meeting you is selling something. Maria will not do that.
What she will do is make sure that whatever you decide, you decide it having genuinely tried, rather than having run out of ways to talk to each other.
Sessions are in the Weston office or by video across Florida, in English or Spanish. Where an older injury sits underneath the present conflict, EMDR is available. Sessions are $250, self-pay, with a superbill available.
Areas served
Catholic marriage counseling sessions in Weston, FL and nearby Broward communities, Weston, Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Cooper City, and Miramar. Secure telehealth is available across the state of Florida.
Related reading: Christian marriage counseling · Christian couples counseling · couples counseling in Weston · all specialties. Learn more about how Maria works, her background, and session rates, or reach out.
Common questions
A few specifics.
Is this annulment counseling?
No. This is clinical marriage and family therapy. It does not replace pre-Cana, a marriage retreat, your parish, or your priest, and it is not annulment counseling.
Can we keep seeing our priest at the same time?
Yes, and it is welcome. Maria is a therapist, not clergy, and has no interest in competing with your parish or your prayer life.
What about family pressure?
Extended family is often part of the picture, especially in Weston. Parents, godparents and siblings hold opinions, and the pressure in both directions is something the work can name openly.
What are the practical details?
Sessions are in the Weston office or by secure video across Florida, in English or Spanish. EMDR is available where older injury sits underneath. Sessions are $250, self-pay, with a superbill available.
Ready to take the next step?
English or Español · in person in Weston or telehealth across Florida
Contact Maria