Marriage and Family Counseling

If you are having some difficulties in your marriage, or perhaps your family is in crisis, marriage and family counseling can be very beneficial. While it may initially seem a bit uncomfortable to discuss your problems with a total stranger, if you find a therapist which is a good fit and is good at what he or she does, you will very likely be glad you decided to make the investment.

Keep in mind, though, that for marriage and family counseling to be helpful, you have to be willing to make some changes in your life. It won’t be helpful if you merely use it as a place to vent or if you expect the therapist to do all of the work for you. Nor will it be helpful unless you each take responsibility for your contribution to the problem or issue at hand, because rarely is a problem entirely due to one person.

Following are some of the many ways in which marriage and family counseling can help, if you are ready and willing to do some work.

Improve communication

Poor communication or lack of communication is often at the core of most marital problems, as well as family problems. We all grew up learning ways to communicate, but we didn’t necessarily learn to do it effectively. When things are going well, talking is easy. But the true test of good communication is when there is conflict.

In marriage and family counseling, the therapist can help you find ways to communicate better with each other. This not only includes learning how to better express things such as needs, wants, or concerns, but also how to better listen to each other. Conflict is normal whenever two or more people live in the same household.

Unfortunately a lot of couples and families do not handle conflict well, and even relatively minor problems can quickly escalate. As a result they become seemingly insurmountable issues when communication completely breaks down or becomes hostile. Improving communication is the core of dealing effectively with all other issues.

Learn to choose your battles

Marriage and family counseling can also really help you learn to choose your battles. Life is going to be full of stressful and irritating things. That’s normal. But where many couples and families get into trouble is when they let everything become a huge ordeal. A good therapist can help you determine what the real issues are, while helping your learn to recognize which ones really aren’t a big deal. Learning this will go a long way towards a more peaceful home environment.

Create new patterns of interaction

As humans, we are creatures of habit. As a result we get into patterns of interacting with our spouse and family members which can be unhealthy. At times, they can even be destructive and hurtful. Sometimes we don’t even realize the damage we are doing until someone objective, such as a therapist, points it out.

Marriage and family counseling is geared towards creating new and healthier ways of interacting with each other. As the saying goes, if you keep doing the same thing you will keep getting the same result. But a skilled therapist can show you better ways to get the desired result in your relationship.

Hopefully you can see how marriage and family counseling might be very beneficial. Every couple and family has occasional struggles. Going to a therapist doesn’t mean you are weak or a failure. Rather, it shows that you recognize the need for change and that you desire some assistance in making that happen.