Success in couples counselling often depends on the stage when help is sought and the willingness of both people. Relationship therapy can help when there is a lot of conflict, resentment, boredom, feeling unheard, or recurring arguments between a couple.
Sexual difficulties may also have arisen in the relationship and the couple may have infrequent intimacy between them. When two people come together as a couple, each person’s strengths/weaknesses & resolved/unresolved past issues will be present. Couples therapy works with the relationship itself – viewed from the perspective of the coming together of two individuals.
Here’s what to expect in Couple’s Counselling:
- Changing the perspectives of the relationship: Learn to stop the “blame game” and instead look at what happens to them as a process involving each partner.
- Modifies dysfunctional behaviour: Help identify behaviours and attitudes that are damaging the relationship so that they can change the way they behave with each other.
- Decreases emotional avoidance: Help with expressing their private feelings to avoid becoming emotionally distant. We will help you bring out the emotions and thoughts that you find difficult expressing to your partner.
- Improves communication: Communication involves both hearing and speaking. Couples may require coaching on how to speak to each other in more supportive and understanding ways, and gain better understanding of what types of communication are effective and what types will only cause more conflict.
- Promotes strengths: Good couples therapy will assist the couple in identifying or rediscovering the strengths in the relationship. The point of promoting strength is to help the couple get in touch with their deeper love connection and have this as the foundation that they build their improvements on.
Reference: Benson, L. A., McGinn, M. M., & Christensen, A. (2012).
