Is your marriage or relationship under strain? Or do you often feel distant, unwanted, or misunderstood by your partner? Sadly, not every relationship lasts forever. Over 100,000 couples globally get divorced every year. Luckily, couples therapy can help solve whatever problems you might have with your spouse.
What is a Couples Therapy?
It is a counseling session that both married and unmarried couples undergo to work things together and resolve issues to boost their relationships. Couples therapy equips couples with tools and knowledge to work on their differences, communicate better, and learn effective skills to deal with future problems. Relationshipsandmore.com counseling sessions are handled by licensed counselors who are very equipped to ask complex couples therapy questions common in Rye, NY, to help, listen, and understand partners in a relationship.
The Importance of Couples Counseling
Over the years, couples counseling has undergone a very remarkable change, emerging as one of the widely embraced and prominent types of therapy. Today, it plays an important role in the world of counseling and psychotherapy. It mainly involves adapting several techniques to address unique challenges that couples face. In addition, it has evolved into a highly regarded and unique form of treatment through specialized methods, helping therapists do the following:
- Address couples’ distress
- Elevate expectations
- Improve physical and emotional well-being
Tips for Choosing a Good Therapist
Counseling for couples helps to reconnect partners, resolve their conflicts, and strengthen their bonds. It provides a safer space for partners to work out their issues as well as grow their skills to better their marriage. But the question is – how can you go about choosing a good couples therapist? If you don’t know where to start looking, the following are tips that can help you choose a reliable couples therapist:
- Research about Couples Counselors
Not every couple therapist is created the same, and some of them have a better outcome than other counselors. This is why it is important to research. With the internet, it is now easy to research different therapists. Through research, you can learn the expertise and skills of different therapists.
- Prioritize Your Needs
Before you start looking for a therapist, you need to take more time to identify and reflect on your preferences as well as needs. Discussing all your needs will help to ensure you and your significant other are always on the same page and may look for a counselor who is comfortable to work with. Some of these questions can help you to reflect and identify your needs:
- Do you opt for a counselor with a certain professionalism?
- Do you have a specific preference for the religious background and age of a therapist?
- What do both of you want to attain from the counseling session?
- Inquire about Experience
One of the first things you need to inquire about a therapist is experience. You might want to deal with a counselor who specializes in couples counseling. All couples are created differently, so don’t hesitate to inquire whether they have enough experience to work with several other couples like you and your significant other. Regardless of what your relationship looks like, it would be a great idea to work with an inclusive therapist. A professional counselor will respect both you and your spouse irrespective of your beliefs, sexual orientation, race, and gender.
- Get Referrals and Recommendations
Ask your friends and family to recommend a good therapist. By asking, you will not just add names, which people have vouched for. You will also have a better understanding of what the session is and entails. It is advisable, too, to ask the doctor you regularly visit or trust, like a pediatrician, physician, or OBYGN, to recommend a good counselor. With this, you will get a more verified therapist. But you need to remember one thing – even with referrals from the people you truly trust, the expert might be unsuitable for your needs. Your friends’ needs could be different, and the counseling process you want may not be attainable with a counselor who was recommended to you.
- Discuss Specialized Counseling Approaches
Counselors use different ways to offer couples therapy sessions. Based on your preferences or needs, you might find that a specific type of counseling is an excellent option. For instance, Gottman therapy helps to improve intimacy in relationships, while Imago therapy focuses on building a healthy relationship. Determining how to look for a therapist won’t be easy. But if you have enough details about the techniques that a therapist uses, you will have a sense of what to anticipate. From there, you and your significant other may decide if the approach the counselor uses is suitable for you as a couple.
- Consider Work Style and Compatibility
It is important that the values and goals of your therapist are compatible with yours. Their attitude when it comes to culture, religion, sexuality/sex, divorce, marriage, and a therapist’s approaches to work in those areas must feel right to you and your partner. If you are unsure, ask the therapist all the questions you might have. A professional and reliable counselor will welcome as well as answer every question, clearly and openly. As a couple, it is also crucial to feel comfortable with the personality and work style of your counselor. Although some counselors are adaptable and flexible to work with other couples from different backgrounds, other therapists aren’t. Some partners can adjust well to various styles, too, but choosing a counselor who is the best fit for you as a couple can help to benefit from the entire process.
- Check Whether the Expert is a Registered
Some professional organizations have eligibility standards, which are always consistent. These standards help to ensure counselors registered with a well-known association have a particular amount of clinical experience and supervised training. If an association recognizes the counselor, then you know that the therapist is very committed to what they do and can expect a lot from them.
The bottom line is that choosing a good counselor for your marriage or relationship is important to ensure the success of the session. When choosing, don’t just prioritize your needs and preferences. Consider the therapy approaches, experience, and qualifications of a therapist, too.
