Everyone has heard that almost 50% of marriages will end in divorce. Most people do not think it can happen to them when they are walking down the aisle. However, it does happen. Many American marriages end in divorce. Couples find themselves in stressful situations after many years of marriage and choose to start over. There are often many emotions involved with marriage disputes and divorce. People may still have strong feelings for their spouse, but feel that they cannot work out their problems, finding that divorce is the only option. They may struggle to communicate or struggle to get over infidelity. There may be a variety of reasons that they feel they can no longer remain together. However, many Americans choose divorce before trying out marriage counseling.
The statistics for working with a marriage counseling professional are good. After working with a marriage or family therapist, 93% of patients said they had more effective tools for dealing with their problems. Respondents also reported improved physical health and the ability to function better at work after attending therapy. Marriage counseling is about more than providing a communication buffer between each spouse. It is also about providing the couple with useful tools when disputing or arguing. Couples can learn better ways to communicate their needs and their problems. Marriage counseling can provide couples with tools when they thought there were no more answers for their problems.
According to research done by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, over 98% of surveyed couples who underwent couple?s therapy reported that they received good or excellent help, and over 97% of those surveyed said they got the help they needed. Marriage therapy is an answer for couples with problems that many do not think of.
There can be many things associated with a couple?s problems. Some of the problems can come from individual differences and even from underlying mental disorders. If a spouse member is struggling individually, they are likely to be struggling as a couple as well. In fact, 50% of Americans with major depression do not seek treatment for the mental illness. Depression can provide the person with a mix of emotions that they feel they cannot handle. They may see everything in a negative light and have difficulty finding joy in things they once did. The person may place the blame on their spouse that they are not trying as hard to please them anymore. In reality, it could be an underlying problem of depression or other mental health disorders. Most couples and marriage counseling will also include individual counseling services. Most therapists will recommend at least a few individual counseling sessions, to ensure that there is not anything underlying going on and that the person is truly comfortable sharing their thoughts and emotions in a couple?s type setting. The use of individual counseling with marriage counseling can be very beneficial.
Couples who are struggling may find benefit in marriage intensives as well. Marriage intensives are workshops or longer counseling events. The couples are often joined with a variety of other couples, who may be going through similar problems. It is different in that the counselor is working with a variety of couples, rather than one specific couple. The couples are put through a variety of communication and togetherness projects, testing how they work together. These projects can help them to pinpoint where their communication and working together problems lie.
For those couples who are too busy or do not like the idea of visiting a marriage counselor, online relationship counseling psychotherapy is a newer option. The couple has the option of seeing a marriage counselor in the comfort of their own home. They never have to leave their homes, and they can still get the mediator point of the counselor. Additionally, the counselor can still provide the couple with projects and things to work on.
Many couples experienced struggles and difficulties in their marriage at some point. This is why so many marriages end in divorce. Couples feel that they have no more options and that divorce is the only option. However, marriage counseling provides couples with a new way to look at things and new tools to help navigate through problems with.
