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Couples · Chronic Illness · In Person
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The Third in the Room

Illness moved in. You’re still a couple — not a patient and a nurse.

Six weeks for couples living with chronic illness — tending the relationship the diagnosis keeps pushing to the edge of the room.

When
Weekends · TBD
Length
Six weeks · 90 min
For
Couples living with chronic illness
Language
English · Ukrainian · Russian
Where
182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558
Approach
The Gottman Method

When one partner lives with a chronic illness, it quietly reshapes everything — who does what, who worries, who apologizes, who grieves. The love is usually still there. It just gets crowded out by appointments, fatigue, and roles neither of you chose.

You’re not a patient and a caregiver. You’re two people who love each other with something hard in the room — and this is six weeks of making space for both of you in it.

We move gently and never force. Each week has a skill to practice here and one small thing to carry home — enough structure to help you feel like partners again, not roles. A private conversation comes first, so we can make sure the group is a good fit for where you are now.

♡ ♡ ♡

The six weeks

From the third in the room to a life bigger than the diagnosis.

Week
1

The third in the room

Illness moved in, and it doesn’t leave at night. Naming it as a presence — not a fault, not a failing — is where the two of you get to stand together again.
Practice
Naming what the illness has taken, and what it hasn’t.
Home
One thing you each miss, said out loud.
Week
2

Patient and nurse

Roles creep in quietly — one manages, one is managed — until you’re a caregiver and a patient more than a couple. You can be both, and still find your way back to partners.
Practice
Noticing where the roles took over.
Home
One moment this week that’s just the two of you, illness set aside.
Week
3

The guilt on both sides

The ill partner’s guilt for the weight they carry into the home; the well partner’s guilt for their tiredness, their grief, their wish for a different life. Both are human, and both can be spoken here.
Practice
Saying the guilt gently, and being met.
Home
One honest sentence, without apology.
Week
4

Anger with nowhere to go

You can’t be angry at an illness, so it lands on each other, or gets swallowed. We make room for it — safely, and with repair.
Practice
Letting the anger be named, then softened.
Home
A pause script for the hard days.
Week
5

Intimacy, changed not ended

Bodies change, energy changes, desire changes. Closeness doesn’t have to end — it can be rediscovered on new terms.
Practice
A gentle, specific conversation about closeness now.
Home
One small act of tenderness, on your terms.
Week
6

A life bigger than the diagnosis

Rituals, meaning, and plans that hold room for the illness without being ruled by it.
Practice
Building rituals that fit the life you actually have.
Home
Yours to keep.
How payment works
$95 per couple, per session
Paid in full at enrollment

Groups run out-of-network and privately. Paying in full at enrollment holds your place for the whole series — and lets the group form as a stable, closed circle: the same people, from beginning to end.

Refunds

A full refund if you withdraw before the first session. In the first two weeks, a prorated refund or a credit toward a future group. Once the group has formed, the remaining sessions aren’t refundable — the circle was built around your place in it — but if something serious comes up, talk to me and we’ll find a fair way through.

Superbill

A superbill is available for possible partial reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits. Whether a group qualifies depends on its nature, so it’s best to check with your insurance company.

Reserve your spot

Seats are limited to keep the group small and safe. Reach out — we’ll find out together whether this is the right next step for you, and there’s no pressure either way.

Contact to reserve
alesia@ivycounselinggroup.com (609) 688-8300
Where we meet 182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558