How to use this guide
The steps below follow the order most couples in Port St. Lucie move through when they decide to see someone together. Work through them at your own pace. Some couples finish in an evening; others take a few weeks to agree on the first step, and that is fine.
Step 1: Talk about why, together
Before anyone picks up the phone, sit down and each name one thing you would like to be different in three months. Keep it specific: fewer arguments about the schedule, more time alone together, a calmer way of making money decisions. You do not need to agree on everything. You only need enough common ground to explain to a counselor why you are calling.
Step 2: Decide on format and hours
List the hours each of you can reliably keep. In a city as spread out as Port St. Lucie, one partner may drive to Fort Pierce each morning while the other works in Stuart or across town. If no weekday evening works for both of you, put video on the list early, or plan for weekends. Write down whether you would rather sit in an office or join from home.
Step 3: Make a short list
Choose two or three counselors from the listings on this page. Note their format, their area of town if they see people in person, and how they can be reached.
Step 4: Look each one up with the Florida board
The Department of Health page cited below says Florida's Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling oversees marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors and clinical social workers, and links to a public license search. Search each name on your list. Note the license type and status. If a name does not appear, ask the counselor which license they hold and under what name.
Step 5: Sort counseling from mediation
If you are separating and a family case is open, you may also hear about mediation. The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit's mediation page says family mediation involves parties to a divorce, paternity, or similar family matter, and that family mediations are being conducted remotely until further notice. That program belongs to the court system and is separate from counseling. Keep the two clear in your planning: the circuit's office handles mediation for your case, and the counselor you choose works with you on the relationship.
Step 6: Find the paperwork desk if you need it
When forms are part of the picture, the circuit's Self-Help FAQ points to forms online and to paper copies for a fee from the St. Lucie County Clerk's Family Relations Department on South Indian River Drive in Fort Pierce. It says forms are filed with the clerk in the county of your case. A counselor will not handle these papers, so set them aside as a separate task.
Step 7: Make the first calls
Call or email each counselor on your short list. Ask the same questions of each so you can compare:
- What does a first session usually look like?
- Will you meet with each of us on our own at any point?
- How long are sessions and how often do couples usually come?
- What is the fee, and do you take our insurance or offer a sliding scale?
- How do cancellations work?
- Can we switch between video and in-person?
Step 8: Compare and choose together
Lay the notes side by side. Each partner says which counselor they could talk to most easily. If you disagree, try a short introductory call with the top two before booking.
Step 9: Book and set expectations
Book the first session and agree, between yourselves, on how many sessions you will try before reviewing. Three or four is a common starting point. Put the dates in both calendars.
Step 10: Review after a few sessions
After the agreed number of sessions, sit down again with your notes from Step 1. Ask each other whether the sessions feel useful and whether the format still fits your schedules. Continuing, switching counselors or pausing are all reasonable choices.
About this directory
The listings here are independent counselors serving the Port St. Lucie area. We do not provide counseling and we do not check credentials; the Florida license search is how you check.