In the current environment, anyone is susceptible to being affected by stress or frustration, and Orange Country residents are no different. In a marriage or relationship, these pressures can build resentment leading to unhappiness and marital discord. Those looking to save or improve their marriage owe it to themselves to understand the benefits of marital counseling and give it a try with an Orange County professional.
The benefits of marital counseling or psychotherapy are that they can help you enhance a healthy relationship or assist in processing and resolving marital problems in therapy sessions, as a couple together or individually, which are uniquely developed to your goals. Since few of us are fully equipped with the relationship skills needed to overcome difficult interpersonal conflict, a therapist can help each person develop these skills so that in marital counseling sessions, they begin to cooperate on rebuilding and improving their relationship.
How Marital Counseling Can Help Your Marriage
What are some specific benefits of marital counseling and how can it improve or save my marriage?
- In a ‘safe’ and neutral environment with an impartial and educated therapist, you will learn to assertively communicate your needs and grievances in a non-offensive tone, without anger or fear of retaliation. You will also learn to use active listening to ensure your partner feels acknowledged. These are essential communication skills.
- In order to resolve conflicts in a healthy manner, you might learn how to have productive arguments and problem-solve together. These conflict resolution skills can alleviate present issues or be used to slowly process and diffuse unresolved or volatile issues over time.
- Yet another of the benefits of marital counseling is that it’s something you have to do with your spouse. If the two of you feel that you’ve drifted apart, simply having something you do together can help bring you closer together.
- While it’s great to be able to talk to your spouse about your troubles, unloading too many intense emotions could end up driving a wedge between the two of you. Your partner probably doesn’t know how to deal with your emotions, so talking to a professional will help you both cope.
- You may have developed patterns of interacting with your spouse that you’re not even aware of, and these patterns may not be good. One of the benefits of marital counseling is that your counselor will recognize these patterns and help you undo them if they have a negative impact on your marriage.
- Marital counseling can even help you and your spouse become better parents. One of the goals is to help you and your spouse become a team, which will help you have a more united approach to parenting. While this isn’t the main focus of marital counseling, it’s a positive side effect.
- Setting ground rules, expectations, immediate and future goals with your marital counselor can build a foundation for a happy and healthy relationship after marriage counseling.
How Jennifer De Francisco Can Help Orange County Couples
Marital counseling can either be short-term, with couples attending a few sessions to help get over a crisis, or it may be a more long-term commitment to rebuilding a greatly deteriorated relationship with continual maintenance. The length of time you spend in counseling will depend on your situation. Making the decision to see a marriage counselor is tough and the process can be difficult. But rather than silently cope with an unhappy situation, couples therapy can help you healthily cope, resolve, or dissolve a troubled marriage. If you’re in Orange County and feel you could use some help, we hope you’ll take us up on the benefits of marital counseling!
You can reach Jennifer De Francisco at (949) 251-8797 or make an appointment right here on our website.