Marriage is sometimes not always as beautiful as imagined. Sometimes, a household is hit by a significant or prolonged conflict, making it difficult for you and your partner to find a way out.
When faced with a situation like this, marriage counselling can be an alternative way to find a solution to your marital conflict, through this counselling. You and your partner can make more logical decisions and find the best way out of the war.
Marriage counselling
Marriage counselling is a form of psychotherapy or psychological therapy intended for couples. This therapy is also known as couples therapy.
Couples will consult a licensed therapist or psychologist known as a marriage and family therapist during marriage counselling.
This therapist is for different types of couples: newly married couples, long-married couples, cheating partners, childless couples, couples with bad habits, etc.
Marriage counselling is recommended for couples who feel they have any problems in their marriage and want to resolve them amicably.
After marriage counselling, both parties in the couple are expected to make wise decisions that are best for their household.
Either in the form of a decision to strengthen an existing relationship, try to rebuild an association that began to crumble, or decide to separate on amicable terms.
Marriage counselling activities
Marriage counselling will bring couples together for therapy sessions. A counsellor (therapist) will help you and your partner understand what and where the source of domestic conflict is and help you try to resolve it.
During the counselling session, you and your partner will try to analyze the good and bad sides of the relationship and consider the possible future of your relationship.
Not all marriage counselling sessions will go smoothly. You and your partner may be silent or even have a big fight when you bring the problem to the counselling room.
It is natural for this to happen. Counselling will act as a mediator and mediator to overcome emotional outbursts or disturbances that may occur during this therapy process.
Counselling sessions will generally help you and your partner learn different ways to make your relationship stronger, for example:
- Teaches how to communicate openly
- Learn to discuss differences calmly and rationally
- Trying to solve problems together.
The therapist may also give you tasks or homework that you and your partner must do to improve harmony. For example, talk heart-to-heart every day about something uplifting without distraction.
The counsellor may suggest additional therapy if there are specific severe cases, such as addiction (gambling, drugs, sex, and the like) and mental illness (e.g. uncontrollable anger). The therapy will be tailored to the problem and may be accompanied by other necessary health care.
Marriage counselling has various durations. Usually, marriage counselling is short-term, so it only lasts for a few sessions.
However, it is not uncommon for the therapist to schedule counselling for several months if the problem is complex and profound.
You and your partner may also be scheduled for individual therapy. For example, individual therapy can also be given if your partner does not want to undergo marriage counselling.
Usually, individual therapy is scheduled once a week. However, this counselling plan may vary based on the situation.
Benefits of marriage counselling
Marriage counselling intends to identify and resolve a couple’s conflict and improve the relationship between the two. In addition, marriage counselling can bring many other benefits, such as:
- Strengthening the relationship of couples who are starting to stretch
- Gain a better understanding of your partner and how to accept their flaws
- To repair a troubled relationship so that it can maintain it
- It is expected to help overcome household conflicts such as communication problems, sexual problems, significant family conflicts, infidelity, constant quarrels, the crisis of trust, exchange of husband and wife roles, etc.
- Improve communication with partner
- Build cooperation in living daily life
- Reduce stress levels that arise during the marriage
- Build new commitments to achieve common goals
For cases of domestic violence, counselling may be helpful. However, marriage counselling alone is insufficient in cases of severe domestic violence where the violence has been felt to be life-threatening or to the point of concern. It’s a good idea to immediately contact your local crisis centre, protection commission, or the police for the emergency help you need.
