Pre-Marital Counseling
Pre-Divorce and Post-Divorce Counseling
Making the choice to go to couples counseling can feel like a very big step. It involves admitting that things are not perfect in your relationship, which is often tough to do. Unfortunately, this fear leads many couples to wait too long to seek help. How will you know when you and your partner need couples counseling? If you are experiencing any of the following in your relationship, you may benefit from talking to a professional at Envision Therapy.
Trust has been broken. Has there been deception about an infidelity, a financial matter, or other issue?
There is an addiction or mental illness. Relationships are hard work. That work is magnified when one partner struggles with an addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, video games, etc., or has been diagnosed with a mental illness such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or OCD.
You’re arguing more. Are arguments getting more intense, or more frequent? Is it more difficult to forgive and move forward?
You’re feeling misunderstood or ignored. Communication is at the heart of a solid relationship. When you and your partner are not connecting, you may both be feeling unheard and misunderstood.
Something just feels off. If you’re suddenly feeling out of sorts with your partner, or resentful of them, but aren’t sure why, these are often early signs that interactions are turning unhealthy or dysfunctional.
You have something to reveal to your partner. There are some things that are tough to say even to your partner. Counseling provides a safe space to make this happen.
A crisis or trauma has changed the way you connect. Life constantly tests relationships. Experiencing the loss of a child, long-term unemployment, a health or legal crisis, or estrangement from family, are just some of the challenges that can rock even the healthiest of relationships.
You feel stuck in bad patterns. Couples can easily fall into unhealthy patterns that threaten the stability of their relationship. Does one partner feel they are carrying too much of the weight with chores and kids? Is one partner spending too much time at work, or staying out late with friends, causing resentment?
Physical and/or emotional intimacy are gone or diminished. Are you and your partner feeling more like roommates than soulmates? Are conversations feeling very surface level? Has sexual intimacy waned, or disappeared entirely? Is someone feeling rejected, or sex being used as a bargaining tool? When emotional and sexual intimacy are missing, a partnership is at risk.
You want a divorce. Even when a couple is comfortable with the decision to end a relationship, the divorce process can prove challenging. Seeking couples counseling at this time can help facilitate the process and protect the emotional well-being of the partners, and their children.
You are a blended family. Entering a partnership or marriage with children brings challenges as everyone navigates new roles, and authority is often questioned. This can prove stressful on the couple who are trying to balance the needs of their partner with the needs of children.
Relationships are hard work, but working with a professional in a safe, confidential setting can help enhance communication and mutual respect between partners, and help rekindle feelings that brought you together in the first place. If you are ready to create the relationship you envisioned, contact Envision Therapy today to schedule your first couples counseling appointment.
Source: Some of the content on this page is taken from the following article
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/201709/should-you-go-couples-therapy