In relationship therapy, you will learn the skills that you need to tackle the difficult issues and create new perspectives, becoming better partners and perhaps even best friends again.
Marriage therapy not only helps with common issues like poor communication, sexual problems, parenting problems or conflict resolution but also with more complex relationship problems like building a deeper connection or a stronger emotional connection.
Years of experience and significant amounts of couples’ research in both premarital counseling, marriage therapy and family therapy have concluded that partners who engage in relationship work with an experienced therapist greatly improve their relationship dynamics, are happier and have better outcomes.
Often the best decision a couple in a committed relationship can make to create healthy communication while going through a life transition is to participate in relationship coaching or family therapy.
There will always be challenges, both personal and as a couple, but learning effective ways to deal with them, especially during hard times is key to personal growth.
There are many couples who find themselves adrift, no longer feeling good about their relationships. It can be a painful experience to be in an unhappy or conflicted relationship. It can feel even more painful if your partner doesn’t recognize how badly you feel.
The problem is that negative patterns can become the norm and now your relationship is stuck. You need help to make changes happen.
Every couple, every family has their own set of issues to deal with, individually and as a unit.
My goal, from the very first session, is always to break down these issues and work with you to resolve them. My many years of working with hundreds of couples (and being married myself for many years) gives me the insight and extensive experience to help you to get the most out of your relationships.
The following topics will give you an idea of the kinds of issues I have worked with.
Poor Communication Skills
Many couples find that they are unable to talk together without being misunderstood. In fact they might even find that their conversations devolve into arguments which were never intended.
This pattern of poor communication can become entrenched and, over time, each partner can then become defensive. This can turn into a hostile style of communication that is disheartening and very damaging.
Effective Communication is a skill that can be learned. Couples who have been communicating so poorly are often surprised by how much better they can become with help from couples therapy.
Sexual Problems
You may have found that your sex life together has either become boring, dwindled to a very low point over time or disappeared entirely. As a couple you may have become out of touch with this once very important part of your life together.
Trying to again experience the good feelings that intimate contact and enjoyable sex can create is a worthwhile reason for couples to come to therapy.
As a clinical sexologist, with years of clinical experience in human sexual behavior, I can help.
Intimacy Has Waned or Gone
The closeness you once felt is no longer present and you feel disconnected from each other. No more kissing or holding hands or romantic moments. In fact so much time has gone by without an intimate connection that it feels really awkward to try.
Parenting Issues
One of the big issues for couples with children is learning how to parent cooperatively. Partners often run into conflict with their spouses about how best to handle different parenting issues.
New ways of looking at specific issues are encouraged and often bring solutions to them.
Breaches of Trust
Having an affair, lying about financial or personal matters, using drugs or alcohol secretly; any of these breaches can cause a major crisis that often needs professional help to resolve.
Marriage counseling can also be about repairing and healing the delicate fabric that binds you to your partner. It will explore the dynamics that exist between the two of you, help to heal wounds and create a more empathic and loving relationship.
Affair Recovery
Working through recovery from an affair requires a more specialized form of marriage counseling. Here the delicate fabric that holds the relationship together has sustained a serious tear. It is a type of breach of trust that has a unique meaning to each couple and needs to be sorted out with the help of someone who is both skilled and experienced in these matters.
Wanting help with a Healthy Divorce
Not every marriage will last. Sometimes the couple coming in for marriage counseling has realized that they can no longer make it as a married or fully committed couple. They don’t want to end the relationship disliking or even hating each other. They may even have a child or business together. Couples can be greatly helped using counseling to work through this difficult process while being respectful of each other.
Whatever The Issue…
Whatever your issues may be, you have decided to consider getting help through couples therapy. It is often not easy to take that leap of faith but without trying to make things better you will never know.
Moreover, should things continue the way they are going your relationship may not survive.
Making the decision to face the issues between you even though it may be a little frightening and uncomfortable is both brave and worthwhile. It is an assertive act and you can feel proud that you have taken steps to grow a better life together. Becoming an emotionally healthy couple will make you a happier couple.
How much does couples therapy cost? – Couples counseling is an investment in yourself and your family. Have you been able to put a price on your pain and suffering? Have you thought about how the negative impact of your relationship affects those around you?
How long is couples therapy? – Learning to do almost anything takes some time. There is no real formula for how long couples therapy may take as each couple is different. Some couples need less work than others. In fact, depending on the couple and the issue, the process can be quite brief.
Will couples therapy work? – There are no guarantees that marriage or relationship counseling will solve all your problems. However, if you don’t try you will never know. If you have given counseling some thought then you probably feel you need to do something about your relationship.
Can couples counseling make things worse? – What is more likely to happen is that you and your spouse will begin to better understand each other. It is typically the case where a couple experiences becoming more aware of what is really happening between them. Awareness is the first step towards creating solutions.
What if my partner won’t come to couples therapy? – Sometimes it takes one partner to begin the process before the other decides to join. I encourage individual partners whose spouses won’t come in at first to begin to look at and explore the way they handle the issues they bring to session. It has been my experience that the other partner often becomes intrigued enough to change his or her mind.
Why wait any longer for things to get worse?
If you want to get any additional questions answered please email me or call me at 305-933-9779.
The phone consultation will be completely confidential and cost is free.
You can also get my free report: Top 10 Reasons to Get Marriage Counseling located at the top of this page. Simply enter your name and email address and click Get Report.
Services are rendered either at my office located at 2999 NE 191 St. Suite 703, Miami, Florida 33180 or through video conference. Serving all of the greater Miami area or, online therapy through video conference, anywhere that there is broadband internet connection.
