The Couples Coach
Safety, said plainly.
The Couples Coach is for ordinary hard conversations between two adults who feel safe with each other. Here is what it is, what it does when something sounds wrong, and where real help is.
Real help, any time
Free and private. These are run by people, not by us.
- EmergencyCall 911 if you’re in danger right nowCall 911
- 988 Suicide and Crisis LifelineCall or text 988Call or text 988
- National Domestic Violence HotlineCall 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788Call 1-800-799-7233
- Childhelp National Child Abuse HotlineCall or text 1-800-422-4453Call 1-800-422-4453
- love is respect (for young people)Call 1-866-331-9474, or text LOVEIS to 22522Call 1-866-331-9474
It’s an AI, and it says so
Every talk opens with the same line: “I’m an AI coach, not a person and not a therapist.” A line under the header says it on every screen, and in a long sitting the page says it again.
An AI can be wrong. Treat what it says as a suggestion to think about, not as a fact about you or your partner.
It isn’t therapy
The coach helps with one conversation at a time. It doesn’t diagnose, it doesn’t treat anything, and it doesn’t give legal, medical or money advice.
For something heavy, like an affair, an addiction, depression or a decision about staying together, a licensed couples therapist is the right help. The coach will say so, and it can still help you get ready for one talk.
When a talk sounds like someone is in danger
Every message is checked twice before the coach answers: once against a list of crisis phrases, and once by a separate check that reads the message for signs that someone isn’t safe.
If either one is worried, the coach doesn’t coach. It shows a short message with real help lines, written by us and not by the AI. If someone seems to be afraid of their partner, the talk stops there.
When two of you are at one screen, the page never shows why a talk stopped. It says “Let’s stop here for today” and nothing else. If the talk was a saved one, each of you later sees a quiet note with the help lines on your own screen.
These checks can miss things, and they can be wrong. If you are in danger, don’t wait for an app: use the lines below.
Who it isn’t for
It isn’t for a crisis, and it isn’t for a relationship where someone is afraid of the other, or where there is violence, threats, or one partner controlling the other’s money, phone or movements. Coaching both people to “communicate better” can make that worse.
It won’t help anyone read a partner’s phone, track where they are, test their loyalty or hide something from them.
18 and older
The coach is for adults. Starting a talk means saying you’re 18 or older, and if someone says they’re younger, the talk ends and points to help made for young people.
“Get help now” and “Leave quickly”
Both buttons are on every screen of a talk. “Get help now” shows the help lines without sending anything anywhere. “Leave quickly” clears a free talk from the tab and opens a neutral site, so the Back button doesn’t bring it back.
“Leave quickly” can’t clear your browser’s history. If someone checks your devices, a private window is safer, and the hotline’s advocates can talk through safer ways to get help.
Use an email only you read
Saving a talk needs an email address, for your sign-in codes and your private link. Use one that only you can open. Our emails never contain anything from a talk, but a subject line can still show that you use the coach.
Your private link opens your talks with no password. Keep it to yourself, and reset it in Settings if someone else may have it.
Deleting
You can delete one talk, your notes, or everything, from the talk itself or from Settings. It is deleted right away and for good, apart from routine backups that expire on their own.
A free talk was never stored on our side: closing the tab ends it.
More on what we keep and how to delete it is in our privacy policy. Questions? Write to hello@thecouplescompany.com.