Marriage counseling is counseling that is meant for married couples or other couples involved in a long-term relationship. It is meant to repair relationships that are falling apart and that the couple wants to save. Marriage counseling does not always solve all the problems, but it will give couples a way to talk about what is bothering them.
There are many marriage counselors out there, so you must do some research to find the one that you feel will help you and your partner the most. You can find some counselors online, such as https://ecmentalhealth.com/, and these counselors can help as much as counselors you see in person. Since COVID happened, many more counselors are willing to do video sessions with couples, as well.
If you are having trouble with your marriage or relationship, you will want to get some help to save it. You will also want to ensure that your partner wants the same thing out of the relationship. Sometimes the relationship is just not meant to work out, and a counselor can help with working your way through that, too.
Who Should Seek Marriage Counseling?
There are really no restrictions on who should seek marriage counseling. There is counseling for all types of couples, married or not. There is counseling for gay marriages, straight marriages, open marriages, and people thinking of getting married. There is counseling for young couples at the beginning of their relationships and those who have been married for 50 years or more.
The truth is every couple can use some kind of marriage counseling at some point in their relationship. Every kind of couple goes through struggles, even if they are the world’s best couple. Everyone might see the struggles, or the issues might only be apparent to the couple. The point is that every couple has some sort of struggle in their relationship.
There are many struggles, such as couples who feel they no longer see eye to eye on issues. Some couples with parenting and financial issues.
There are problems with household responsibilities and with sexuality or romantic chemistry. And there are all kinds of other struggles that couples have. Here is a list of common struggles that couples face: https://collaborativedivorcetexas.com/ten-common-problems-marriage/. This list is not all-encompassing, but you can see that other couples have the same issues as you.
Do Marriage Counselors Always Recommend Divorce?
In some extreme instances, marriage counselors recommend couples divorce or split up because the marriage cannot be saved. But that does not always happen.
The counselor wants to help the couple to stay together and to figure out ways to communicate with each other. Morally, the counselor will usually keep their opinions to themselves about whether the couple should stay together or not.
What Happens During Marriage Counseling?
Most marriage counselors want the couple to attend the counseling sessions together. Sometimes one partner or the other will refuse to come to counseling.
That does not mean that you cannot attend by yourself. You can learn a lot about your marriage and how to deal with your particular situation even if you go by yourself. You can take the lessons you learn in the counseling sessions and take them home to your partner.
Here is a list of questions that a marriage counselor may ask. They will use the questions and your answers to determine how the counseling will go.
Marriage counseling, like any other counseling, can become uncomfortable at times. You need to be made to feel uncomfortable at times so that you can discuss the issues you have and work out those problems.
Marriage counseling should be a safe place to air out the issues you have with your partner and for them to do the same. This will make for some uncomfortable times during your sessions. The strongest couples can work through those uncomfortable times and come to a better understanding of what is not working.
How Do I Start Counseling?
The first thing is deciding that counseling is the right step to take for your relationship. Then, you should talk to your partner and see if they are on board with it being the right thing to do.
If your partner is reluctant to go, suggest starting with just one session and going from there. If that does not work, tell them they can go alone, and you will go alone, and then maybe you can go together before too long.
How Do I Convince My Partner to Go to Counseling?
There are some ways stated above, but you do not want to cause even more trouble in your relationship by insisting that your partner goes to counseling. You want to assure your partner that you want to do this because there are issues in the relationship, and you want to be able to fix it.
Be careful that you do not put any blame on your partner. Instead, help them understand that you have things to work on too for it to be a healthier relationship.
If you cannot get your partner to commit to going in-person to a counselor, there are online counseling options available instead. Your partner may commit to counseling if they can do it from home.
This option can also help if you are a busy couple and cannot commit to that much time away from home. For example, it can be a good option if you have children at home and cannot find a babysitter for you to attend the sessions elsewhere.
Concluding Words
Make sure that you two are ready for counseling an that you both want the relationship to work out. Sometimes, the relationship is just not meant to work out, and you must accept that, as well. There is counseling that is meant for those types of situations, too.