Marriage Counseling

When people enter into a marriage, most feel the road will be relatively easy and will not be nearly as difficult as some people have warned them. After all, you have found the one person in which to spend the rest of your life. What could possibly go wrong?

In reality, marriage can be difficult. Changes occur, and often, two people begin to grow in different directions. Life can be chaotic and if you and your partner are not working through new circumstances and growing together, a married couple can find themselves living relatively separate lives. Communication becomes difficult and discussions can turn into fights that feel impossible to overcome. Children often become the priority, and your relationship takes a backseat to all the other priorities in your life. When all of these things are thrown together, a couple often finds themselves facing affairs, financial difficulties, anger, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and/or many other challenges. Marriage counseling can help you either work to prevent or work through these issues before or when they occur.

How to Prepare

Try to come in with an open mind and heart. Often, a couple comes into therapy, but only one member wants to be there. This is normal. One member may feel the marriage is worse than the partner feels it is while another member may feel that there is no hope for the relationship, that they have reached a point of no return. If you have made it as far as coming into the office, you will get the most out of your time by being open and honest about how you are feeling and what you are experiencing. We encourage you to share any doubts or concerns about the process and how it will move forward and help your relationship. We know how difficult it can be to walk through the door, and we want to make it a comfortable experience where you feel safe to express yourself freely.

What to Expect

Your first session will be more of a “state of the union” type session. You will be encouraged to discuss how you see your marriage right now and what issues you feel are the most difficult to overcome. You will also likely discuss how your marriage has evolved over time and how you feel you have arrived in this place. Your therapist will help you explore these questions, so do not feel you have to have all the answers immediately.

The next two sessions will probably be individual sessions where you and your partner will discuss more of who you are, your background, your relationship history, and more about how you feel about your marriage. Each of these sessions is completely confidential, and your therapist will not bring up the discussions in your joint session. The following sessions will be together, and you will achieve the most and more rapid success by attending these weekly and completing any homework assignments given by your therapist.

Results

Results vary from couple to couple. Our Noyau therapists are expertly trained in couples counseling and believe in marriage, so they want to help you make your marriage grow and thrive. However, a couples success depends on how much work they are willing to put into the process and their marriage. The harder you work, the better the outcome. The more you are willing to acknowledge your needs, feelings, personal shortcomings, desires, and to change or alter some of your behavior, the more likely you are to achieve the healthy, fulfilling marriage you want.