A therapist can help you and your partner decide what you want for the future and then give you strategic ways to achieve those relationship goals. Whether this means breaking up or figuring out what it will take to make the relationship work, a great benefit of couples counseling can be to clarify your feelings. A well-trained couples therapist who seeks to deeply understand you and your partner can help you implement strategies and tools to change the way you communicate, as well as change the unhealthy dynamic in your relationship. They can help you generate difficult feelings in a vulnerable way, make your partner see you better, and create a recipe to win your heart.
One of the most common reasons for seeking couples therapy is the need for help to overcome a significant breach of trust. Perhaps it was infidelity in the form of sex; perhaps it was an emotional issue; perhaps it was a series of lies or deceptions about money. In any case, it can often be helped to rebuild the foundation of trust by establishing a forum in which both parties are free to express their vulnerability. Couples therapy may sound dramatic, but in reality, going to couples therapy or couples counseling can be a very healthy step in a relationship.
It's usually a sign that a couple is interested in working on their relationship in a committed and intentional way. This is a guide to what happens in couples therapy, how to know if you should go to couples therapy, and other frequently asked questions. Couples therapy helps introduce healthy coping mechanisms that will benefit both parties. This way, new problems can be quickly managed before they get bigger and more harmful.
When communication becomes difficult, some couples resort to not talking. Without communication, couples can't work out the important things they need, such as parenting, budgeting, caring, etc. How do you know if you have a good counselor? Read “5 Signs of a Good Marriage Counselor: Is Therapy What Everyone Says It Is? Read here to understand the “6 main myths of therapy” Here are just 15 reasons why couples often go to therapy. Couples who decide to go to therapy are taking a positive step toward strengthening themselves, their relationship, and their family.
Many couples go to marriage counseling to prevent problems from escalating, learn good communication skills, learn how to create a satisfying relationship, and avoid creating unhealthy patterns in their relationship. Discernment counseling was designed to work with 30% of couples “with mixed agendas,” meaning that one spouse wants to work on the relationship while the other is seriously considering divorce. Counseling helps parents learn ways to work with their children to improve their relationship and new parenting skills. Not all couples should stay together, so sometimes success in couples counseling means the couple realizes it's time to end the relationship.
Both Carroll and Hoge point out that they see couples who just want to improve their good relationships and who want to learn new relationship skills.
