Marriage & Family
ADVANCED Psychotherapy & Counseling
Marriage Counseling & Family Therapy
The Goals of Marriage Counseling
When problems arise in a relationship, marriage counseling, known also as couples counseling or marriage therapy, can lead to improved understanding and communication and can enhance the relationship. Counseling helps improve communication and listening skills and enables each partner to more fully attend to the needs and desires of his or her spouse. Marriage counseling gives couples the tools needed to achieve honest, respectful, two-way communication which helps promote dealing with difficult subjects in a healthy non-confrontational manner. Couples learn to replace resentment with respect and arguments with caring conversations. The goal of marriage counseling is to help each individual gain a better understanding of the needs of his or her partner, thereby increasing relationship satisfaction for both.
Marriage counseling helps eliminate dysfunctional patterns and promotes emotional healing and positive thinking. The goal of marriage therapy is change - in particular, behavioral change that leads to greater satisfaction and joy in one's relationship. Marriage therapy helps couples learn to disagree while being agreeable. Marriage counseling gives each partner a chance to voice personal concerns in order to properly deal with current or past issues which are negatively affecting the relationship. With the help of a marriage counselor couples can decrease conflict by learning how to discuss their problems in a calm and respectful manner. Each member of the couple begins to interact rather than react, negotiate rather than engage in power struggles, compliment rather than criticize, respect rather than condemn.
The goal of marriage counseling is to improve the relationship while addressing each individual's needs, desires, hopes and aspirations. A system is greater than the sum of its parts and that is true for a relationship as well. A relationship or a family is a system and marriage counseling addresses the marriage or relationship as a whole while attending to the needs of each individual, making certain each partners voice is heard. Marriage counseling helps build intimacy, respect and affection. It helps couples put the past aside, enabling each member to look forward to realize the positives and benefits of continuing the relationship.
When to Seek Marriage Counseling
The sooner a couple begins therapy, the greater the likelihood they will be able to solve their difficulties and save the relationship. Unfortunately, even when faced with problems, many couples do not seek marriage counseling, hoping that things will work out. Regrettably, if issues are not addressed in a timely fashion, things often worsen. Allowed to continue for too long, such tension may lead to estrangement and divorce. Instead of suffering, it is wise to address issues early on before they become monumental.
It is preferable if both partners participate in marriage counseling, but therapy can be successful and helpful even if only one member of the couple follows through. It is often helpful for each partner to meet with the therapist in individual sessions as well.
Common Areas of Stress in a Marriage
Individuals who experience these issues within their marriage are certainly not alone. Being part of a marriage is certainly challenging and at times even difficult. Marriage counseling helps to give couples a fresh new outlook and perspective on their relationship. Our therapists are trained to help couples deal with common issues such as:
- Communication difficulties
- Intimacy problems
- Sexual issues
- Financial concerns
- Decreased fun in the relationship
- Infidelity problems
- Jealousy
- Domestic conflict / Frequent fighting
- Blended family / Step-family problems
- Parenting concerns
- Anger issues
- Power / Control problems
- Lack of mutual respect
- Career / Work conflicts
- Loss of love and affection
- Boredom / Lack of variety
- Conflicting values
- Infertility
- Decreased fulfillment within the relationship
- Substance abuse
- Cultural differences
- Lack of affection
- Religious differences
- Addiction to gambling, pornography, internet
Family Therapy
Family Therapy or Family Counseling
The goal of family counseling is to remove dysfunction and restore the family to its' proper functioning as a cohesive, loving unit.
Family therapy aims to lessen dysfunctional, disruptive patterns among family members. Similar to couple counseling in many ways, it addresses the family system and aims to help the family achieve it's highest level of functioning. Its goal is to repair the relationship between family members in order to help the family unit and each individual within it achieve their potential and function as a supportive unit.
Common Areas of Family Stress Addressed in Family Therapy
Family therapy helps give families a fresh new outlook on their relationships within the system with the goal of reducing dysfunction and increasing support and pleasure.
When one member of the system experiences a problem, the system is thrown into disequilibrium and begins to malfunction. Such tension and stress often results in a major dysfunctional family system. The most common problems that a family faces include:
- Communication difficulties
- Conflict between parents
- Power and control problems
- Lack of mutual respect
- Loss of affection
- Frequent arguing
- Anger issues
- Financial tensions
- Issues regarding children
- Boredom and decreased fun in the family
- Distancing between family members
- Blended family issues
- Step-family problems
- Parenting issues
- Conflicting values
- Addiction
- Internet addition
- Video game addiction
The Structure of Family Therapy
During the course of family therapy, family members meet with their therapist together and separately, depending on the situation. Even when meeting in individual sessions, the goal of therapy is to restructure of the family system so it will be a more cohesive unit.