I understand why you’d choose to see a church therapist if money is an issue. And maybe I’m wrong, but a church therapist might have an agenda, spoken or unspoken, to keep a marriage intact. And if that is what you want, great. But sometimes splitting is the best thing for the people in a marriage, and I think marriage counselors outside churches realize that and may provide more balanced therapy as a result—therapy for the people in the marriage, not the for the abstract relationship “marriage.”

I do know couples where one has started marriage counseling solo and the other has joined them eventually. Good luck, SummerTime.