Can Couples Therapy Save Your Marriage?
Are you tired of all the fighting?
Do you want to connect with your partner like you did when you first fell in love?
Do you have issues that need to be resolved before you can move forward with your relationship?
Are you worried your relationship might be over if something doesn’t change soon?
If you have any of these problems in your relationship then couples therapy might be the answer you have been looking for. Couples therapy has been used for years to help couples resolve their issues and get back to what made your relationship good in the first place. That’s what you really want isn’t it? Your relationship to be like it was when you first met or even better without any of the issues you have now.
Can Couples Therapy Really Get The Love Back?
With a proven action plan couples therapy can help you achieve the relationship you desire, but the keyword there is “action”. You have to take action and apply what you learn in couples therapy to have any hope of renewing your relationship. That means it’s going to take some work to put the relationship puzzle back together, but if you have simple steps to follow it makes the whole process a thousand times easier.
In most cases couples don’t have the skills they need to navigate the relationship “minefield,” it’s not that they don’t want their relationship to work they just haven’t been taught what to do to make it work. Let’s face it, we weren’t born with the skills to do a lot of things, we had to learn them and a relationship is no different.
One of the first things that most couples need to do is learn how to control their emotions so that they can act appropriately. If you ever find yourself getting angry or upset instead of lashing out or shutting down take a couple of breaths and choose your words carefully. Think about what you’re going to say and how it will make your partner feel. What’s your desired outcome, do you want to try and resolve your issues or do you want to get back at your partner because they hurt you?
Can Couples Therapy Work Even If I’m The Only One Willing To Work On Our Relationship?
Absolutely, in fact many relationships have been saved by one determined individual. Usually the process starts with one person who wants to save the relationship while the other is unwilling to put in the effort. As time goes on the unwilling person see’s the changes in the determined individual and the positive impact they have on the relationship. Then they start to come around and get more involved in the rebuilding process.
The simple truth about relationships is, you can’t make anyone do anything and even if you try it won’t work, but what you can do is change the way you interact with your partner. When you do this, over time, it will start to change the other person’s behavior without trying to force them to change. That’s the only way to create any kind of lasting change, change has to come from inside and can’t be forced.
Even if both partners are willing to work on their relationship true change comes from within. That means, the first thing you should do to fix your relationship is work on yourself. Most of the time you know where your short-comings are, whether you have communication issues, intimacy issues or whatever and working on yourself is the best place to start fixing your relationship.
What Can I Expect From Couples Therapy?
The truth is it’s hard to know what to expect. Every therapist will have a different experience level and different methods to resolve your issues. That’s why it’s very important to find a therapist that you’re comfortable with. You need to be able to talk about your problems without feeling judged or having a therapist take sides.
So to find a good one, get on the phone and call around, make sure to ask lots of questions and try to find one that you’re comfortable talking with. Make sure they’re willing to create a viable action plan with you because the real goal of therapy should be to give you the tools you need to handle any situation without therapy.
If you decide to go that route here’s some things you should know. First, therapy can get expensive quick, and it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to resolve your issues with one session, so make sure you’re prepared to shell out some dough. Second, it is completely possible that you will learn things about your partner that can completely destroy your relationship. Sometimes therapy brings up things that you wish you would have never learned, so be prepared for that.