Being a couple means having someone to consider as a partner through thick and thin, and this can be such a delightful prospect to consider. Unfortunately, despite your bond, you and your partner are different individuals, and both of you carry quite a lot of experiences, quirks, and personalities that make your relationship as a couple unique. Most importantly, your unique blend comes with imperfections which, when unmanaged properly, can be quite the cause of alarm. In this regard, couples counselling can give quite the benefit to you and your partner, and this article will explain just how.
For those who are a bit doubtful about couples counselling or couples therapy, it appears methods of couples therapy such as Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) has proven to be effective in a lot of countries worldwide. In the United States, the American Psychological Association states that across 25-years of research, EFT has proven to be 75-percent effective on couples that undergo therapy using that approach. This has also been used to help deal with clients with high stress levels such as infertile couples, parents with chronically-ill children, veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and military couples.
With these numbers in mind, here’s how couples counselling can give you and your partner the kind of guidance you need:
1. You can better understand yourself and your partner
Perhaps one of the most helpful things couples counselling can do is that it can help you and your partner understand one another. This is done by using methods and techniques that helps reconcile your differences and similarities, and in turn help you acquire better methods of approaching each other that wouldn’t strain the relationship. This can help explain what kind of expression one partner prefers, or help make a deeper understanding of how one partner solves problems compared to the other.
[su_note note_color=”#efefef”]See also: Silhouette, Stilettos, Serendipity – Balancing relationships and materialistic pursuits[/su_note]
2. You can start exploring your problems from new perspectives
One of the most helpful aspects of couples counselling is its ability to help you and your partner see your problems from perspectives you may not have considered. Before you can go about solving your problems, it’s important you understand them first. Couples counselling can help make sure you and your partner approach your problems from a position of understanding, and you take important and valuable lessons from them.
3. You can acquire new skills and tools that can help you resolve and recognize conflicts
Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of couples counselling is that therapists can actually help you develop tools that you and your partner can use to tackle problems more efficiently. Gone are the days where you and your partner always feel as though you’re on a standstill, as new tools are now at your disposal to make sure your problems won’t be there to bother you as much as before. You can slowly get used to using these new tools in order to make sure problems are resolved quickly.
[su_note note_color=”#efefef”]See also: 6 Easy and fast conflict resolution tips [/su_note]
4. You can start improving on your communication again
Couples counselling can help you and your partner start communicating with each other again, especially if you think you and your partner’s communication has eroded over time. It’s common for those in relationships to reach some form of impasse and even “lose” the capability to become trusting and intimate towards one another. Therapy from couples counselling can help develop this once again, and you can learn more about a service that can teach you exactly just how this can help your relationship.
5. You can work on your relationship from a neutral ground
Having a couples counsellor with you can help make sure the kind of resolution you get from your therapy is something that comes from a neutral position. This means your “baggage” will have to be put aside in order to make sure issues you and your partner discuss are tackled, and that you remain focused throughout the sessions. This also means you get more freedom and more room to explore your relationship and its various factors without having to focus too much on events, prejudices, and biases that may hinder with properly understanding your circumstances.
6. You can decide on your relationship’s future from a renewed position
When you and your partner think your relationship is in need of serious consideration – especially if you decide that perhaps separation, a renewed commitment, or rebuilding a partnership is necessary, couples counselling can help you begin from a renewed position. This means unlike in other circumstances where you can simply have a discussion by yourselves, having a mediator can at least make sure things are much more clarified and elaborated between the two of you.
The takeaway: Couples counselling and the benefits of guided care
Getting someone involved in your relationship can be difficult, especially if it’s a third party like a therapist. Other people find this concept odd because “seeking help” can imply couples don’t have it together, but couples counselling isn’t necessarily for couples with relationships on the rocks. As stated above, couples counselling can be helpful in a lot of ways, especially on finding ways on how it can help your overall relationship. You can use the above reasons, or find your own, to get guided care and end up having a stronger relationship than ever.
