The Marriage Counseling Blog

Making a decision to start marriage counseling can be a difficult decision for many couples.  Couples can benefit from marriage therapy for a variety of reasons.  Many people wonder if couples counseling is right for them and their situation.

Couples Counseling can help couples improve their communication.  Each person can learn skills to increase direct communication and also how to increase the effectiveness of communication.  This can help resolve a variety of marital problems.

Marriage therapy can also help make arguing more productive by reducing anger and hostility.  Couples can learn the rules of “fair fighting” which can help them to learn how to listen to each other and also how to express themselves in a calm, reasonable manner.  Couples counseling is not recommended for relationships where there is domestic violence.  Instead, a therapist may recommend that each partner seek individual therapy, to ensure that each partner is safe.  Helping couples learn conflict resolution skills can decrease a lot of stress within the marriage.

Dealing with an affair is an issue that can be addressed in couples counseling as well.  Whether the affair was emotional or physical, therapy can help the couple explore their feelings and also explore the impact the affair has had on the relationship.  It can help the couple determine if they are both invested in continuing the relationship and they can learn skills to help them deal with the impact.

Marriage counseling can help families problem-solve how to deal with stressors.  It can assist people with problem-solving around issues such as budgeting problems, parenting differences, or the division of labor around the house.  It can also help families who are dealing with grief or loss issues.

Couples have the best prognosis when both partners are invested in treatment.  This investment means that both people are willing to look at themselves and the things that they can change to help improve the marriage, and not just point fingers at what they think their partner needs to do differently.  When a couple agrees to treatment, it can be the first step toward a happier and healthier marriage.