Couples Therapy is an American reality television show airing on the cable network VH1 that chronicles reality television performers as they receive relationship counseling from psychotherapist Dr. Jenn Mann and her staff. The first season, which consists of eight episodes, premiered March 21, 2012 and featured participants such as rapper DMX and Linda Hogan (ex-wife of wrestler Hulk Hogan). The second season premiered on October 3, 2012, and features Doug Hutchison and his wife, Courtney Stodden. VH1 renewed the show for a sixth season, which premiered October 7, 2015.

Episodes

Cast

Main cast

Couples

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Production history

Season 2 saw the casting of actor Doug Hutchison and his wife, Courtney Stodden, whom he married when she was 16, and who was two weeks shy of her 18th birthday upon their arrival at the therapy center. Due to Stodden's age, she was forced to leave the production area every night, due to California child labor laws. This drew surprise from one participant in the series, who commented, "It was totally bizarre. The whole point of the show was to have all these couples living together in the house. Courtney had to leave Doug every night and go to a hotel so that no labor laws were broken." This also caused conflict with other participants, one of whom commented, "It caused a lot of friction in the house and poor Doug was left by himself a lot of the time when everyone else was a couple. How can you shoot a show called 'Couples Therapy' when one couple don’t even share a bedroom together?" Despite characterizations of Hutchison as a "pedophile" and "predator", the series' main therapist, Dr. Mann, stressed that she does not believe that Hutchison is, or was, seeking out young people, saying, "He's not a predator. He’s not someone, who if Courtney left him, would be trolling the Internet or high schools for underage girls. That's not his m.o. This is not a guy who was seeking out teenagers. He was teaching a class, she wanted to be an actress, it was an acting class... And that’s how it started." Though Mann was eventually surprised by the dynamic between the two, she commented on her initial hesitations about working with the couple, saying, "I believe it was the wrong decision to let a 16-year-old marry a man in his 50s. It’s uncomfortable to see... [at first] I said to my producer, ‘I think this [guy] is a pedophile...I don’t know if I can work with these people.’ I don’t condone it, but I do see that this is a married couple that is genuinely married and they have marital issues that needed to be worked on. I came in saying, 'She’s a victim, he’s a predator.' What I found out was that she has a lot more power in this relationship and he is far more powerless than I expected. His family has completely disowned him... He unfortunately has nothing besides her." Hutchison was also defended by Stodden's mother, Krista Keller, who praised Hutchison for the kindness with which he treats Stodden.

Spin-off