Usha Vance Reveals She Told Husband J.D.: 'Therapy Didn't Work for You — Church Does'

Usha Vance is opening up about a deeply personal conversation she once had with her husband, Vice President J.D. Vance, and what she believes it says about his approach to healing and faith.

The discussion resurfaced after CBS News reported that J.D., 41, referenced in his upcoming book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith that his wife, Usha, 40, once told him, “Therapy didn't work for you; church does."

When asked about the remark during a joint interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Usha didn’t walk it back.

“I do think that's true,” she said in the interview, which aired Sunday, June 14. Usha is currently expecting the couple’s fourth child, due in July.

She went on to clarify that her point wasn’t a dismissal of treatment in general, but rather a reflection on what worked for her husband personally.

“And it's not that therapy doesn't work for other people, but J.D. just didn't have the right kind of trust in that process,” she continued. “He just didn't feel at home in it, really exploring some of the feelings that he had and trying to figure out how he wanted to be the person that he wanted to be for the rest of his life.”

The vice president also addressed why the church plays a central role in his life, agreeing with CBS journalist Robert Costa’s observation that he gravitates toward structure and stability.

“Yeah, I think that's very insightful,” J.D. said, reflecting on the role religion plays in his personal growth.

He then looked back on his upbringing, which he previously detailed in Hillbilly Elegy, describing a childhood shaped by inconsistency and change.

“And I grew up in some ways a very nontraditional household, you know? A revolving door of people coming in, people coming out, raised by my grandparents at some points, raised by my parents at some points, my mom, my dad,” the vice president said. “So there was a certain movement and chaos to my youth, and I do think that I was searching for something that, again, felt a little bit more rooted and felt a little bit more stable."

The couple, who met at Yale Law School in 2013 and married a year later, have also been open about their differing religious backgrounds.

Usha was raised in a Hindu household, while J.D. has spoken about his eventual conversion to Christianity after a period of spiritual uncertainty.

In a 2025 appearance at a Turning Point USA event, J.D. also shared hopes about his wife’s spiritual journey.

"Now most Sundays Usha will come with me to church," J.D., 41, said while speaking at the University of Mississippi on October 29.

He added that he continues to hope she may one day convert.

"As I’ve told her and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends: Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church?" he said. "Yeah, I honestly do. Because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way."

J.D. also reflected on their early relationship and how their backgrounds shaped their worldview.

"My wife did not grow up Christian. I think it’s fair to say she grew up in a Hindu family, but not a particularly religious family," he explained. "When I met my wife, I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist and that’s what I think she would have considered herself."