Couples session
Both of you with Tawanda, in the office. This is where most of the work happens.
80 minutes
Norfolk, Virginia
A steady place to start again after trust has broken
Harbor is a Norfolk practice for couples working through an affair, a secret or a broken promise. One licensed therapist, eighty-minute sessions, in the office or by video.
Who Harbor is for
For couples who both want to try, and are not sure how
Harbor is built around one kind of work. These are the people it suits, and the ones it does not.
After an affair
One of you has stepped outside the relationship, and the two of you are still in the same house, with a lot unsaid.
After a secret
A hidden debt, a private account or a double life came to light, and trust went with it.
Both of you at the table
The work needs the two of you in the room. You do not have to agree on the future to begin.
Not for every situation
If you are afraid of your partner, couples therapy is not the place to start. Write to us and we will point you to people who can help.
If you need help now
The work
Two people, one therapist, and a plan for each stretch
Tawanda does not take sides and does not give a verdict. She helps the two of you say what happened, hear each other, and decide what comes next.
The early weeks are about steadiness: what has to be said, what can wait, and how to get through a week between sessions. Later sessions turn to the longer question of whether and how you rebuild.
Each of you is heard, in the room and one-on-one
A written plan for the first stretch of work
A pace the two of you can both keep
Sessions
The sessions, and who comes to each
Together
Joint sessions are the core of the work.
Couples session by video
The same session for when you cannot come in. Tawanda is licensed in Virginia, so you both need to be there.
80 minutes
One at a time
Each of you has time alone with her near the start.
First one-on-one
Your own history and what you want from the work, in the second and third sessions.
50 minutesOne-on-one later on
Added only when you both agree it would help the joint sessions.
50 minutes
Every session's fee is given to you in writing before you start.
Tawanda Kincaid
Founder and couples therapist, LMFT
Tawanda sees couples who are working out whether and how to go on after a breach of trust. She stays with both of you through the hard conversations and does not hurry them.
In the first session Tawanda listens to each of you, explains how she works and the limits of confidentiality, and leaves the decision to continue with you. Her Virginia license is at the foot of every page.
Sees
- Couples after an affair or a secret
- Partners who are unsure about staying together
- Couples who need a plan for the first weeks
Credentials
LMFT, licensed in Virginia
Adults only, in English
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) · VA Lic. # 000000
What we do, and what we do not
A plain account of how the work goes.
What we do
We start with what happened, told in turn, with Tawanda keeping the conversation from turning into a trial. We name the patterns that keep the two of you stuck, and we practice a different way of talking between sessions.
What we do not do
We do not decide who is to blame, tell you whether to stay together, or promise a result. We do not take a couple where one partner is afraid of the other. This is not an emergency service.
How long it takes
Tawanda sets the pace with you and does not promise a number of sessions. Some couples meet every week, others every other week.
A session
How an eighty-minute session goes
Every joint session has the same shape, so you know what to expect when you walk in.
Tawanda keeps time so that neither of you is left holding something open when the hour ends.
A few minutes to say how the week went
The main conversation, at a pace you can both bear
A close, with one thing each of you will try before next time
Your first six sessions
Who comes to which session, and for how long
This is the usual order. Tawanda can change it with you, and she does not promise a count.
- 0180 minutes
Step 1: Session 1, both of you
You both come. Tawanda explains how she works and the limits of confidentiality, and hears from each of you.
- 0250 minutes
Step 2: Session 2, the first of you
A one-on-one: your own history, what you worry about and what you want from the work.
- 0350 minutes
Step 3: Session 3, the other of you
The same one-on-one for your partner, with the same rules about what she does with what she hears.
- 0480 minutes
Step 4: Session 4, both of you
Tawanda says what she has noticed and proposes a plan for the first stretch. You agree what to work on first.
- 0580 minutes
Step 5: Session 5, both of you
The first regular joint session: a structured conversation about the breach, at a pace you can both bear.
- 0680 minutes
Step 6: Session 6, both of you
A check-in on what is helping and what is not, and whether to go on and how often.
How fees work
The answers to what couples ask before they book.
Insurance we work with
Harbor is out of network with every plan, so you pay for each session yourselves. We do not bill insurance, and we do not take Medicare or Medicaid. Many plans reimburse part of out-of-network care, and it is worth asking yours.
Out of network with insurance plans
No Medicare or Medicaid
If you pay yourself
You pay at the end of each session by card, including HSA and FSA cards. Tawanda sets your fee by the length of the session: an eighty-minute joint session and a fifty-minute one-on-one. A small number of reduced-fee times are held back; ask when you write. Your fee is given in writing before you start. We ask for 24 hours' notice to change or cancel a session.
Receipts for reimbursement
Each month we give you an itemized receipt (a superbill) with the dates and the kind of session, to send to your plan, which may reimburse part of out-of-network care. It carries a diagnosis code your plan can see. Your plan decides whether it pays anything, so ask before you start.
An estimate in advance
If you pay without insurance, you have the right to receive a good faith estimate of what your care will cost before you start. We give you one in writing before the first session. If a bill comes in $400 or more above the estimate, you can dispute it. The estimate is not a contract.
Checking your benefits
We do not check benefits, because we do not bill your plan. To find out whether it reimburses, call it before the first session and ask about out-of-network mental health benefits.
Questions couples ask first
The short answers. More are on the questions page.
Do you take my insurance?
Harbor is out of network with every plan, so you pay for each session yourself. We do not bill insurance, and we do not take Medicare or Medicaid. Many plans reimburse part of out-of-network care, so it is worth asking yours.
What is a Good Faith Estimate?
If you pay without insurance, you have the right to receive a written estimate of what your care will cost before you start. We give you one before the first session. If a bill comes in $400 or more above the estimate, you can dispute it. The estimate is not a contract.
How much does it cost, and how do fees work?
Tawanda sets your fee by the length of the session, and your fee is given in writing before you start. A small number of reduced-fee times are held back; ask when you write. How fees work has the whole picture.
What happens in the first session?
You both come, for eighty minutes. Tawanda explains how she works and the limits of confidentiality, and she hears from each of you. At the end you decide together whether to go on.
Are you licensed where I live?
Tawanda is licensed in Virginia. Office visits are in Norfolk, and for a video session you both need to be in Virginia during the session.
What is confidential, and what are the limits?
What you say in sessions is private, with the legal limits Tawanda explains in writing before you start: danger to yourself or someone else, harm to a child or a vulnerable adult, and a court order. Her policy on what she hears in a one-on-one session is in the same paper.
Write to us
Tell us how to reach you
We reply within one business day, at the time and in the way you choose. Write for both of you, or for one and say your partner knows.
Phone(757) 555-0100
Hours
- MondayToday
- Closed
- Tuesday – ThursdayToday
- 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- FridayToday
- 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Saturday – SundayToday
- Closed