Relationship Counseling
“Your life is ultimately measured by your relationships”
Relationship counseling is a process of counseling clients in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences and repeating patterns of distress. The relationship involved may be between members of a family or in a couple, employees in a workplace or between a professional and a client.
Relationship counseling involves these four areas
- Pre-Marital Counseling
- Couple and Marriage Counseling
- Family Counseling
Pre -Marital Counseling
Pre –Marital counseling can reduce the risk of divorce by up to 30% and can lead to significantly happier marriage. Pre-Marital counseling is based on reality that is important to strengthen your relationship and prepare you for future challenges and conflicts in marriages
Issues dealt with are
- Coping with role transitions
- Dealing and blending with your extended families
- Compatibility
- Expectations
- Communication
- Conflict resolution
- Planning long term goals
“You may be in love but Pre-Marital counseling may go a long way in helping you discover whether you are ready to take the plunge. Pre-Marital counseling gives the couple a ‘reality check’ before taking the plunge”
Couple and Marriage Therapy
Couple therapy is often seen as different from psychotherapy because a relationship is the focus of attention instead of one individual diagnosed with a specific psychological problem
Couple therapy focuses on the problem existing in the relationship between two people. But these relationship problems always involve individual symptoms and problems, as well as relationship conflicts. For example if you are constantly arguing with your spouse you will also be chronically anxious, angry, depressed or all these. Or if you have difficulty controlling your temper you will have more arguments with your partner
Couple therapy helps you and your partner identify the conflict issues within your relationship and will help you decide what changes are needed in the relationship and in the behavior of each partner for both of you to feel satisfied with the relationship.
Couple therapy involves
- Changing the ways of interacting with each other within the relationship
- Individual changes related to personal behavioral and psychological problems
- Teaching how to communicate more effectively and listen more closely
- Avoiding competing with each other
- Identifying common goals and values
- Learning to share equal responsibilities within the relationship
Couple therapy helps you to work through issues such as
- Trust
- Respect
- Emotional connection and intimacy
- Communication problems
- Parenting issues
- Extended family concerns
Family Therapy
Family therapy is a special form of psychotherapy that focuses on changes within a family and recognizes that family relationship have a deep impact on the feelings, behavior and psychological adjustment of every family member
Family therapy is used when an adult family member has significant psychological problems especially when these problems impact other family members. For example a parent with chronic depression or substance abuse might benefit from family therapy to address the impact of their problem on family relationships while also receiving individual psychotherapy to directly address their personal change issues
Family therapy involves inculcating skills like
- Active listening
- Communicating
- Problem solving and conflict resolution
- Maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships
