When you hear the phrase “marriage counseling,” what comes to mind? I picture the counseling scenes from the film “What Happens in Vegas,” where Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher are at one another’s neck while acting as a married couple who despise one another.
Marriage counseling has continuously been portrayed in movies and television shows as a tool that is only used to repair something that is broken. Though this is one reason people go to counseling, there are a multitude of other reasons why people attend marriage counseling.
Another reason for counseling is as a preventative measure, a way to keep a relationship healthy. For some couples, regularly attending counseling can prevent future miscommunication issues or conflicts from arising.
#1 – Resolving Matters that Cause Conflict
Of course, the most obvious benefit of marriage counseling is conflict resolution. The deeper issues that often need resolutions can stem from a lack of intimacy, poor communication, finances, or scheduling problems.
When two people are close and share a large portion of their lives together, it can be hard to come up with a solution. Due to this fact is what makes conflict resolution the most familiar benefit achieved from marriage counseling.
High conflict marriage therapy is common amongst people who have different views on major aspects of life, like religion or politics. Counseling in Southeastern Connecticut has proven to help to diffuse high-intensity problems for couples.
#2 – Preventative Care for Relationships
As mentioned earlier in the article, attending marriage counseling can help couples avoid major problems in the future. Marriage counseling has a high rate of success in helping couples stay together through hardships.
Conflict resolution is the most commonly known benefit because most couples wait until the very last minute to seek counseling. This is why you have movies imitating dramatic marriage counseling scenes in films. It is recommended that couples visit a marriage counselor on a consistent basis as soon as they can, if possible.
Marriage counseling may fail for some couples. These couples hold the belief that marriage counseling will immediately make their relationship strong and healthy. They also believe that their counselor will instantly save their relationship.
The only thing that counselors can do is provide couples with the tools to save their own relationship. If couples attended counseling throughout their marriage, they will learn tools to maintain a healthy marriage.
#3 – Learn Better Communication Skills
Gaining communication skills is a large benefit of counseling. When someone is able to properly communicate their needs and feelings, resentment and anger reside. This makes conflict less likely.
Learning communication skills can even teach someone how to communicate assertively without offending their partner. For example, if one feels they are consistently putting themselves on the back burner, resentment and frustration may occur.
Being lovingly assertive is sometimes required in a relationship. It is easy for people in love to break their personal boundaries in order to please their partner.
#4 – Learn How to Process Unresolved Issues
Sometimes couples decide to bench an issue. This occurs because they cannot figure out how to deal with the problem at hand without ruining the relationship. Over time, that benched issue moves out of the front of the pairs’ mind.
However, this can cause a disconnect between the two in the long-run.
Marriage counseling provides couples with a safe environment to communicate suppressed feelings of unhappiness. Receiving news about unhappiness or a lack of fulfillment can be easier with a trained professional present.
Additionally, there is a mediator present to keep the conversation at a medium temperature in case hurt feelings flare up too strongly. Anxiety counseling in East Lyme, CT can help to make sure that conversations stay at a healthy level.
#5 – Grow Closer to Your Partner
Just because you love your spouse does not mean that you two are as close as you can be. Through marital counseling, couples learn to communicate better, and through good communication, people grow closer.
Married individuals sometimes do not even realize how close they can be until after going through counseling. Merely participating in online marital counseling sessions every three to six months can pull two people closer together and keep them in a close relationship.
With a closer relationship, couples start to have a deeper understanding of the other person and their needs. Instead of showing frustration with the other for being the way they are, their newfound understanding leads to more acceptance because frustration levels are lower.
Marriage Counseling is Not Magic
There is no doubt that marriage counseling can help restore a relationship, make it stronger, and keep it healthy, but unfortunately, it is not a magic fix.
One of the biggest disadvantages of marital counseling is the fact of having to search for and meet with various counselors in order to find the right match. Some couples are lucky enough to find the perfect match on the first few tries, but it can be a tedious process.
Keep in mind that this form of counseling only works if both partners are equally working towards the end goal. Marriage counseling will not work if one spouse wants to repair the marriage and the other partner does not.
Counselors are not miracle workers, and they cannot convince your partner to invest in the marriage. If you do end up divorcing, that will include many big decisions that have to be different including changing your life insurance policies.
Outside of these few disadvantages, counseling for married couples can be extremely beneficial, even when there are no drastic problems present.
Prior to seeking marriage counseling, be sure that both partners equally want to work the marriage out. If one or both of the partners are already halfway out the marriage door, you will waste time and money on attending the counseling sessions.
