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What is Marriage Counseling? Can Counseling Save A Marriage?

Marriage counseling is often considered as the last solution for couples who are on the verge of divorce. Nevertheless, have you ever wonder: Can counseling save a marriage? Is this ultimate resort as effective as people think? Since there are many controversial views, today we shall discuss this argumentative topic.

So, before answering the question “Can counseling save a marriage?”, we will together discuss:

What is marriage counseling?

This is what we will have to find out before getting to the main question.

According to Wikipedia, marriage counseling (or couples therapy) is a method that helps couples understand the reasons for conflicts and improve the marriage. It offers a chance for each person to be heard, as well as to know more about themselves. Sometimes, marriage counseling also helps couples change their point of view about the relationship and encourage them to communicate more effectively.

Usually, marriage counseling is provided by therapists who were trained specifically in this field. Sometimes, there will be volunteers who received training from the governments or social organizations to help people in needs.

Not like individual therapy, marriage counseling is often short term. It will take a few sessions to help you overcome a conflict. Nevertheless, provided that the matter is really serious, you will need to spend a few months.

Who shall need marriage counseling?

As you probably know, there is no flawless relationship. Even though it is a thing people dream of and is trying to achieve, the fact is every marriage has problems. After all, we are all different human beings with different personalities, points of view and principles. When it comes to a marriage, there will always be times when your way of thinking is contradicted to your partner’s.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that a marriage will only be the ground for endless crises. Couples are attracted to each other for these differences. They shall help us understand and learn to respect different opinions, perspectives, and even culture.

Unfortunately, it is not easy for couples to do that. Sometimes, you might find some habits or dissimilarities you thought you had gotten used to suddenly get on your nerves. In other cases, it might be a specific problem in your marriage such as infidelity that triggers crises. You may hope that the dilemmas would be healed with time, but chances are they will only get worse. Once you find yourself struggling in a marriage, it will have a bad influence on both your partner’s and your mental well-being. That’s when you two need to find help from marriage counseling.

Below is the list of frequently encountered issues couple therapy can help you solve:

Affair
Attempt to divorce
Financial problem
Unemployment
Abusement
Mental condition
Lack of intimacy or sex
Conflicts related to children
Cultural differences
Communication issues
Events that lead to role changing, such as retirement

However, you don’t need to have a real problem to seek help from marriage counseling. It can also help you to strengthen the bond between you and your partner and provide a deeper look so that you can understand your other half better. If you are someone who is planning to get marriage, visiting a couple therapist shall encourage you to dispel all the differences that may cause troubles in the near future.

Advantages and disadvantages of marriage counseling

Often considered as the most useful method for couples who seek help in solving marital problems, of course, there are wonderful things you will gain:

You will be able to get your problems solved. Marriage counseling is extremely helpful when you and your spouse have different points of view.
Also, it shall show you the way to avoid major issues in the future.
Both you and your spouse will be heard. You are free to share the things that you might be too scared to tell your partner. Holding back is stressful, suffocating and not good for your mental health.
There are various types of couples therapy. You have many choices and are able to select the one that suits you the most.

However, it also shows some disadvantages:

There is no guarantee. We all know that not all problems can be solved. One thing you might not know: Whether marriage counseling would be effective or not depends much on timing.
Marriage counseling is not a magic wand. Many couples assume that it will help you do all the job. In fact, you and your spouse are the ones who play the key role in the marriage. Therefore, it won’t be able to help if you two are not committing.
You need to choose wisely to find the most trustworthy counselor, otherwise, it will just be a waste of time and money and might even further harm your relationship.
The average price might be a bit high for many couples.

How much does marriage counseling cost?

This could be the question many of you are wondering, and the reason for many couples to hesitate.

On average, most marriage therapists would charge around $75 – $150 an hour. Sometimes, the price might reach up to $200 an hour. In most cases, it won’t take only a couple of sessions to solve all the problems. After counselors have an overview of your marital life’s current situation, they will decide whether you need extra individual or couple sessions. Overall, it shall cost around $1500 for 12 weeks of therapy.

Other options that you might consider

Some couples, though, don’t wish to visit a marriage counselor. To explain this, there are so many reasons. They might not be comfortable enough to share their problems with a therapist face – to – face. Perhaps they are too busy or too far away to visit one. If you find yourself in this case, well, it is not a big deal. You can consider these choices:

Online marriage counseling: In the modern days, this method is becoming more and more popular. We think the biggest advantage of online marriage counseling is that it is much easier to access. Also, it is more private. All you have to do is finding a legitimate website that offers online marriage counseling then you can register for an account. Your information and record of sessions will be secured. If you wanna know more about online marriage counseling, you can check out this article to find more information.

Marriage programs: This is a very good option for couples who want to seek help but feel like the cost of regular marriage counseling is too expensive and it takes lots of time. There are detailed programs were written by experienced, trustable counselors, so as long as you know which to choose, you will surely find tips and advice that can be as useful as visiting a marriage counselor. You can see the list of the best marriage programs here.

We hope this article provides you a deeper view about marriage counseling and to answer the question “can counseling save a marriage?” with basic pieces of information on how it works. If you still have any idea to discuss this topic, comment below and let us know! We would love to receive your feedback.

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Amita Hills