Whether or not you’ve actually taken part in it, you’ve probably heard of marriage counseling. Some people view marriage counseling as an alternative to take only when they are in dire need of help. Other people are skeptical of it entirely.
In this article, we’re going to talk about what you can actually expect to experience if you decide to go to marriage counseling. Pro tip: the answer is probably going to be a lot different than you expect.
Who Needs Marriage Counseling?
This question can be a bit deceiving, because it leads people to believe that there are a certain type of people who ‘need’ marriage counseling.
The reality is, if you are in a marriage, you could benefit from marriage counseling.
“But my marriage is fine,” you say! And maybe it is – that’s great! However, the worst thing that could happen, should you attend marriage counseling in this situation, is that the counselor will check in with you and affirm that your relationship is, indeed, healthy.
It’s not just people who struggle with serious marital problems who could benefit from counseling – however, if you struggle with marriage issues, you should probably seek counseling.
Do you have any of these issues?
- Frequent arguing, disagreements
- Highly emotionally charged engagements
- Feeling drained when spending time with your spouse
- Having a hard time communicating, being open or honest
- Verbal or emotional abuse
- Being unable to enjoy spending time together
- Lack of sexual attraction or intimacy with your partner
Unfortunately, most of these problems are quite common – and all of them are indicative of some sort of communication issue between you and your spouse. If you struggle with these problems, don’t hesitate to seek marriage counseling.
What Will Marriage Counseling Do?
Ultimately, marriage counseling will be different for every different couple. Any marriage counselor who dumps the same routine therapy onto different couples isn’t doing their job well enough. The goal of a counselor is to get to know each individual couple, and develop some sort of plan to help the two of them get along better.
So what does this entail? Ultimately, marriage counselors are generally helping to work couples learn how to communicate more effectively with each other. This can entail a number of different things, such as:
- Helping one or both partners recognize the source of emotional traumas, anxieties, or underlying issues that hinder their relationship
- Identifying communication barriers and issues and helping both partners overcome them
- Helping partners identify specific methods of communicating to ensure honest and beneficial relationships
- Looking at patterns in the relationship and helping partners build healthy habits with each other
As you can see, these things are fantastic for anyone in a marriage – not just people who have identified problems. Even if you and your partner are on stable ground, you can always learn to be a more effective communicator. In the long-run, this could help you build up your relationship to a level that you have previously never experienced.
Remember, it’s important to seek a good marriage counselor. Find one that seems to take a genuine interest in you and your partner and is willing to work with the specifics of your marriage.
In Conclusion
Anyone who is in a marriage or a partnership could benefit from going through marriage counseling. A good marriage counselor will help someone identify specific issues in their relationship, and if there aren’t any issues, they will help to provide ways in which you can develop a more stable and intimate relationship.
Even if you feel like your marriage is fine, don’t hesitate to take it to the next level by finding a marriage counselor.
