Marriage Counseling: All You Need to Know
Transforming Relationships: How a Marriage Counselor Can Help
Are you constantly fighting with your partner? Maybe you are going through a rough patch, but you're not sure how to fix things. Seeking help from a marriage counselor can give both of you perspective.
Relationships take hard work. This type of counseling isn't just for failing marriages, and it can give couples tools to strengthen their partnership.
Table of Contents:
What Does a Marriage Counselor Do?
Types of Marriage Counseling
When You Might Need Marriage Counseling
How to Find a Marriage Counselor
Building Relationship Skills with your Marriage Counselor
Different Therapist Credentials
Different Therapy Options
Conclusion
What Does a Marriage Counselor Do?
A marriage counselor helps couples recognize and resolve conflicts. They are looking to improve the couple's relationships. These licensed professionals teach partners strategies to communicate better, which is how they get on the road to fixing any relationship challenges.
Marriage counseling often involves working with both partners. Sometimes an individual might work one-on-one with a licensed therapist.
The goal is to build better communication and problem-solving skills.
Types of Marriage Counseling
Counseling often falls into specific methodologies.
The Gottman Method emphasizes building "love maps." This allows partners to truly know each other's worlds and improve communication by helping to understand underlying issues.
Imago Relationship Therapy focuses on connecting childhood experiences. This helps build compassion for each other's vulnerabilities.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) aims to build and create a secure emotional bond by de-escalating conflict. Studies show couples found improved intimacy using EFT.
Solution-focused therapy concentrates on helping individuals achieve solutions to life problems. It's about focusing on the present and future, rather than the past. This approach gives structure for a goal-orientated way to build a desired future.
When You Might Need Marriage Counseling
Relationships naturally go through many periods. But when relationship issues remain unaddressed, it can affect you.
It can make it challenging for your partner and you to want to stay in the marriage. Do you struggle with repeated, destructive arguments? Maybe the reason is poor communication or differences that cause conflict.
A licensed marriage counselor can give you tools, like managing financial challenges, or growing intimate parts. Other aspects like infidelity, can make one think a separation might happen.
How to Find a Marriage Counselor
Finding the right therapist is key for your situation. One option is getting a referral from your primary care doctor.
Are you looking for online therapy support? Services like Regain specialize in relationship help and allow you to connect virtually with professionals.
Talkspace is also great if you have limited time. Busy work schedules and costs may seem high, but options like Online-Therapy.com give budget-friendly ways without having to join in-person.
Some may prefer someone sharing their faith and look at a source like Thriveworks. There is Growing Self if divorce is something coming soon. For anyone struggling with having an intimate part, there is a resource in Modern Intimacy.
It's smart to look at the different experts too. For example, there are marriage and family therapists, also known as a LMFT.
There's clinical psychologists who also offer mental services for your situation. There are mental health counselors as well as professional counselors and clinical social workers that can help too.
There are the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination. In some states, one test could have more appeal, so be sure to evaluate both.
The positive news is that marriage counselors expect growth. By 2030 it might grow by 16% for job openings, which can affect more problems like depression and alcohol challenges. A relationship therapist is needed more because of that data.
Building Relationship Skills with your Marriage Counselor
So many issues in relationships start with communication issues. This might involve listening, speaking, or reading body language.
Are you trying to connect more and feel closer to your partner and actively seeking to understand their point of view? A licensed counselor can show ways to talk and connect at a high level.
Conflict resolution skills become even more useful as any couple is learning. It is very real for a couple to want skills on how to connect and work with one another, while also teaching a partner how to show and improve empathy.
Different Therapist Credentials
Credentials vary depending on the counselor. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) usually holds a master's degree and the work experience focuses specifically on a couples needs.
A Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) has training. An individual goes through helping and learning.
Some LPCs specialize in areas like abuse or trauma recovery. A Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) goes to school and gains a degree.
A psychologist generally will treat mental health aspects. Each license has education for requirements with different experiences needed, and clinical experience could impact each one and can depend state by state.
Different Therapy Options
Options for where someone might meet their licensed therapists can change the path for you. For anyone wanting a simple, no-pressure time might prefer to meet by internet. Here's how to tell the main distinctions:
Traditional, in-person work is what most people are aware of. It can give focus when needing personal support.
Conclusion
Deciding when it's the right time to work on problems for you isn't easy. But when the pain is difficult to solve for just the two of you, maybe it's time to find help from a good marriage counselor.
Are there problems growing inside you, and affecting your ability to sleep? This shows what is happening is causing significant things in life, including intimacy with a person and can come from a trauma experience or feeling no interest with sexual engagement.
A licensed individual who is trained to help couples resolve difficult fights is what most should find help from. Research suggests partners are trying for help in almost 4 years before getting counseling services, so making steps before that to be able to find effective skills and tools will only increase success of any partnership. A mental health professional becoming a marriage counselor generally enjoys seeing partners discover the steps on their own that brings each other closer together.
