Couples therapy is a type of psychotherapy in which a licensed therapist with clinical experience working with couples, usually a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), helps people involved in a romantic relationship to better understand their relationship, resolve conflicts and improve the relationship. Individual sessions are a possibility, but no couples therapy is successful with purely individual sessions. To be successful, you must ensure that both you and your partner are committed to the sessions. New approaches to marriage counseling, including emotion-centered therapy, or EFT, and the Gottman approach, are achieving much better results.
EFT, for example, has a 75% success rate. The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists reports an overall success rate of 98%. The success of couples therapy and other factors contribute to the decline in the divorce rate in the United States. Today, counseling can save and strengthen a marriage.
Premarital counseling is a type of relationship therapy that helps prepare couples for a long-term commitment. This type of counseling focuses on helping couples develop a strong and healthy relationship before marriage and identifying any potential problems that could cause problems in the future. At its core, marriage counseling is intended to help couples understand and resolve conflicts to improve their relationship. Its goal is to give couples the tools to communicate with more compassion and less fear while learning to solve problems and address conflict in a healthy way.
Remember that even though your title says marriage, you don't need to be married to benefit from relationship counseling. Some believe that if they ignore the problem, it will go away on its own, while others worry that suggesting counseling means admitting that the relationship is in trouble. Regardless of the methodology, the goal of couples therapy is to provide a safe and non-judgmental space for the couple to reconnect and address any problems or concerns they face, reduce distress in the relationship, explore the positive aspects of the couple's relationship, instill strategies for positive communication and bringing partners closer together in their relationship. This form of therapy can be useful for relationships of any kind, whether you're in a long-term relationship, a long-distance relationship, an open relationship (or are considering starting one), or all and none of the above.
Relationship problems aren't limited to romantic ones, though that's the most popular reason people consult for couples therapy. However, many patients actually find that couples therapy is useful in addressing current problems and maintains the happiness and integrity of an already healthy relationship by teaching you and your partner how to communicate, accept any differences, resolve relationship problems you currently face, and find common interests. You can even seek relationship advice online if it's more convenient for you and your partner. Your couples counselor may specialize in a particular approach, or may integrate several different modalities into your relationship counseling.
The exact approach to your treatment will depend on the details of your relationship counseling sessions and the approach of your therapist. Many people believe that you should only seek relationship advice when a separation or divorce is looming. People who maintain healthy and happy relationships can still benefit from counseling that strengthens their communication and connection. Online relationship counseling services use tools such as online chats, video sessions, and phone calls where couples can talk to each other and to their therapist.
Counseling can finally reveal to both partners that the relationship is irreconcilable and, in some cases, that's a good thing, if heartbreaking, to realize. .
