Couples & Relationship Counseling:

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Marriage counseling is a practical method of addressing problems between partners in a romantic love relationship. Typically, when people consider going to marriage counseling they are already aware there are problems between them and their significant other that they don't know how to solve without professional help.

 

Before you can consider marriage counseling, it's important to understand how the therapy sessions might help you. Ask yourself what you mean when you say, 'Does marriage counseling work?' What criteria would you use to assess whether it works or not? If you mean, 'Will couple's therapy improve my marriage?', then the answer may be 'Yes,' or it might be 'No.' The other thing you might think of is whether marriage counseling is right for you and your spouse or intimate partner. The reason is that once you get to the roots of the problems in your relationship, you'll be faced with the decision to recommit to the marriage or end it. For it to work for you, you must at least commit to attending couple's therapy sessions with your significant other. Another thing to keep in mind is that marriage counseling can only work if you are willing to participate fully. After all, couple's therapy isn't something that is done to you. It is a process you accomplish through the guidance of your therapist.

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The type of marriage counseling you choose may depend on the status of your relationship and/or your religious affiliations. If you are engaged or even in the initial stages of planning your life together, you can choose pre-marriage counseling. People who are in a love relationship but not yet married can use this time to learn more about the way the other person thinks and behaves. They can then learn techniques for building a strong marriage or decide that marriage is not for them.

For people who have children, marriage and family counseling might be more helpful than marriage counseling alone. Parents with dissimilar ideas about childrearing often have problems in their marriage as a result. Some sessions might be for the couple alone, while other sessions might include the children, too, or even members of the extended family. Sometimes, your marriage counselor might suggest you have a few individual sessions in addition to the joint sessions. As with individual therapy, marital therapy can be done in-person, or online (via telehealth.)

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Online marriage counseling meets you and your partner literally where you are and takes you to the next level of healing, love and intimacy. This serves two main purposes. One advantage of online marriage counseling is that the process of making the change is fast, easy, and less stressful because it simplifies all the coordination of both partner’s scheduling and commuting logistics. You can talk to a licensed couple's therapist in your own home and make yourself more comfortable than you would be if you were sitting in a therapist's office. Second, you don't have to worry about running late to your session while fighting through high traffic or worried about finding and paying for a babysitter.

 

Whether you go local or online, you should always ask for a different counselor if the first one you see isn't meeting your needs. As your marriage therapist, I can help you and your partner to move beyond old resentments to a happier, healthier union. Marriage counseling can heighten your relationship, and it can change your entire way of life.