Divorce & Separation Counseling in Mount Pleasant, SC

Jeff Marcino, Psy.D, LPC provides divorce and separation counseling in Mount Pleasant, SC for adults and couples in the greater Charleston area, with secure telehealth statewide. He helps clients navigate decision-making, conflict, grief, betrayal, and co-parenting through trauma-informed, Relational Life Therapy-informed care during separation, divorce, and the difficult months that follow.

Divorce & Separation Counseling in Mount Pleasant, SC

I’m Jeff Marcino, a clinical psychologist and licensed professional counselor, and I provide divorce and separation counseling from my Mount Pleasant office, serving the greater Charleston area in person and all of South Carolina by secure telehealth. If you’re looking for divorce counseling near Charleston, SC, I work with adults and couples who are considering separation, actively divorcing, newly separated, or adjusting to life after divorce, as well as co-parents navigating the transition.

The goals are practical and human: reduce conflict, communicate without as much escalation or shutdown, make clear-eyed decisions, grieve what’s changing, and protect your emotional health through a major transition. To be direct about what this is and isn’t, divorce counseling is therapy, not legal advice, mediation, or a custody evaluation. I won’t tell you whether to file or how to divide assets. I will help you think, feel, and respond more clearly as you navigate those choices.

This page is educational and meant to help you understand the service. It isn’t a diagnosis and it doesn’t replace individualized mental health care.

Who This Helps

People come to me at very different points. Some are caught in the same argument on repeat, or living in an exhausting emotional shutdown where hard topics never really get addressed. Some are stuck in the painful in-between—not sure whether to stay or go—and dreading the conversation that comes next.

Others arrive after a rupture: infidelity, secrecy, broken trust, or the fallout of sex addiction and betrayal trauma. When trust breaks in that way, people often feel shocked, hypervigilant, numb, ashamed, or unable to trust their own judgment. Those reactions make sense in context, and they can be worked with.

Separation and divorce can also bring grief, anger, shame, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and a disorienting sense of who am I now? For some, the relationship itself was high-conflict, controlling, or marked by narcissistic dynamics, making boundaries and disengagement especially difficult. I work with all of this—without rushing to label anyone or diagnose someone who isn’t in the room.

Jeff’s Approach: Direct, Trauma-Informed, and Relational

I’ve spent 20 years doing this work, with advanced training and certifications in Relational Life Therapy, The Daring Way™, and sex-addiction treatment. My specialties—trauma, betrayal trauma, sex addiction, couples therapy, depression, anxiety, grief, addiction, and narcissistic-abuse recovery—map closely onto what makes separation and divorce so painful.

My style is compassionate, structured, and direct. I’m not the therapist who only nods while you circle the same problem for months. Drawing on Relational Life Therapy, I help clients look squarely at accountability, self-respect, communication, boundaries, and the patterns that keep repeating. Compassion doesn’t have to be vague. Often what helps most is a steady, honest framework for what is happening between people and what each person can actually change.

Sometimes the best early work is individual rather than conjoint: slowing the reactivity, clarifying your goals, preparing for a hard conversation, or stabilizing after betrayal before deciding what kind of relational work makes sense. When there is active abuse, coercion, intimidation, or serious safety risk, conjoint work may not be appropriate. In those situations, safety comes first.

You can read more about my all therapy services, my approach to couples therapy, and how I treat the lingering effects of betrayal through trauma therapy.

What We Can Work On During Divorce or Separation Counseling

Separation rarely happens on just one timeline. There is usually an external process and an internal one. The work is concrete and tailored to where you are right now. Together we might focus on:

• Clarifying the immediate task. Is the work in front of you repair, separation, or a healthy disengagement? Sometimes the first goal is not the whole future of the relationship, but the next right conversation or boundary.
• Handling hard conversations with less escalation. Reducing defensiveness, shutdown, and pursue-withdraw cycles so important topics can be addressed more clearly.
• Healing after infidelity or betrayal. Making sense of what happened, rebuilding self-trust, and processing the traumatic impact of broken trust, secrecy, or sex-addiction-related fallout.
• Boundary setting and post-separation communication. Learning when to engage, what not to re-litigate, and how to communicate in a way that is brief, clear, and respectful of limits.
• Co-parenting transitions. Keeping communication more child-focused, managing triggers around handoffs or decisions, and reducing the emotional spillover that makes co-parenting harder.
• Grief, identity, and moving forward. Working through anger, sadness, shame, loneliness, and the loss of the future you expected while building a steadier sense of self.
• Identifying repeating patterns. Understanding what keeps happening so you can move forward differently—whether that is in this relationship, in co-parenting, or in the next chapter of your life.

I won’t promise a specific outcome. I will work to help you move through this with more clarity, less reactivity, and more self-respect.

What to Expect: Sessions, Format, and Fees

Getting started is simple. New clients begin with a brief, confidential request that I personally review rather than a long intake form.

Early sessions focus on your history, the current pressure points, the patterns that seem to keep taking over, and what you most need help with now. We also decide whether individual work, couples-focused work, or another format makes the most sense.

Long Point Counseling is a private-pay practice. Working outside of insurance keeps your care confidential and shaped entirely around your goals, never capped by session limits or diagnosis codes. I’m glad to talk through current fees directly, so the financial side is clear from the start. Appointments are available in person in Mount Pleasant and by secure telehealth for clients anywhere in South Carolina.

A safety note: if you are in immediate danger, or you’re thinking about suicide or self-harm, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911 in an emergency. Therapy can be meaningful support, but it is not crisis care.

How to Get Started with Long Point Counseling

If you’re ready, the first step is simply to send a confidential request. A few sentences about what is going on is enough. I personally review every request, and the initial goal is just to determine fit—not to pressure you into a long process.

Whether you’re in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, or elsewhere in South Carolina, you do not have to navigate separation or divorce alone. If you want experienced, private support that is direct, trauma-informed, and practical, I’m here to help.

This content is educational and is not a substitute for therapy or diagnosis. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).