Counseling How The Whole Family Can Benefit



Couples counseling exercises

It can be difficult to hold together a family, perhaps now more than ever. There are many different distractions that can take us away from our families. Some are necessary, like work and school. Others are more individualistic and optional. This isn’t to say that diversion is the only reason why families break down — and certainly, every person needs their own individual time to themselves. Indeed, one of the main reasons why marriages break up is that couples complain about losing their individuality. To put it shortly, there are many different reasons why relationships and families can end up breaking down, sometimes irrevocably. Sometimes, marriages are even “doomed” before they begin, simply because the married couple wasn’t ready for the stresses and pressures that marriage brings. Luckily, there are ways through which people can save their families and relationships. However, you should be prepared to do some hard work, and for that matter seek the proper help. It’s not enough to try to talk things out amongst yourselves. Sometimes, professionals need to step in. Below, we’ll look into some of the different types of counseling that can help people at different points in their marriages.

Pre-Marriage Counseling: Getting Off To A Good Start

Many people scoff at the idea of pre-marriage counseling — or perhaps they say that if you need counseling before marriage, you shouldn’t be getting married at all. This is quite far from reality. Pre-marriage counseling isn’t just for people with “glaring problems” in their relationship prior to marriage. It’s also for people who simply want to get off to the best start possible in marriage. For 93% of Americans, a happy marriage is a primary life objective — and pre-marriage counseling can help people confront any possible issues in their relationship before they enter something as serious as marriage. And yes, it really does work. It’s estimated that couples who underwent this counseling prior to marriage had a 30% higher marriage success than those who did not. Now, this isn’t to say that this counseling has to be extremely involved. On average, the time spent in premarital counseling was about eight hours. Prior to starting, however, you and your partner may want to think about some premarital counseling topics — like what you expect from one another in marriage, how you want to approach parenting if you do at all, and more. Premarital questions can also include where you’ll live, how you’ll balance life and work, and how you’ll manage finances. Even if you don’t think you need this option, you may want to take advantage of it — it can only really help.

Couples Counseling: When It’s Time For Marriage Advice

Now, it should be said that couples counseling is not only for married couples. With that being said, many of the people who seek couple counseling are married couples hoping to avoid divorce. Couples counseling should not only be a last resort though, just like premarital counseling. The fact is that divorce rates have always been high in this country, and they don’t show any sign of slowing anytime soon. Right now, it’s estimated that 40% to 50% of all first marriages and 60% of all second marriages end in divorce. Now, sometimes divorce is the right choice for everyone involved, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. However, couples counseling can help people decide whether or not divorce is right for them. Just like premarital counseling, go into the sessions with as open a mind as possible, bringing couples counseling topics with you. Now, couples counseling questions can be difficult to confront — which is why visiting a qualified therapist is so vital.

Counseling For Parents: When The Whole Family Benefits

Finally, we’d like to remind you that counseling is also available for parents with troubled children. Counseling should be seen as something for the whole family to benefit from. It isn’t just for those who desperately need it — it’s for everyone.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *