Couples therapy typically is recommended for those who for whatever reason are hitting a rough patch in their marriage or partnership, and need guidance, input and support.
Key communication tools help them navigate hard or confusing times in their relationship.
Often when couples come to therapy their overall relationship presents as strong and steady. The couple displays positive aspects but from time to time issues arise that cause ruptures or conflict.
By working with a therapist, couples learn and apply communication skills, leading to effective ways of interacting with each other while handling life’s challenges.
Couples therapy has become more commonplace in recent decades. Premarital counseling also is quite typical.
Couples who have tried their best to manage their shared lives but feel their relationship has grown too far apart are candidates for these intensive sessions. They are designed for couples in crisis.
The therapist seeks to illuminate trouble spots and possibly avoid what seems like an inevitable breakup.
Confronting unhealthful coping patterns — recognizing trauma themes from the past and illuminating healthier patterns of communication and bonding skills — can bring many couples back from the brink.
The early stages of couples intensive therapy may be experienced as quite painful as the life partners express feelings of anger or helplessness.
As new improved tools of communication and ways of relating are presented and incorporated, even the most imperiled relationships can find their way back on track — moving from a previously desperate place to a newly acquired place of infinite possibilities as a relational home is established.