What is couples therapy and how can it help you? Let’s take a look in more detail at how couples therapy can help you and your relationship.
Romantic relationships are no walk in the park; they can be hard work. They need a lot of commitment and compromise from both parties to make it work.
Many couples are usually apprehensive about attending couples therapy, especially if they have never done it before, deeming it as unnecessary.
However, relationship counselling is quite essential; and it does not have to be done only when you and your partner are not seeing eye to eye; but also when you are in good terms, to help nurture the relationship.
So, what happens during these sessions? Do you have to go in with your partner or can you go in alone? If you have these questions, read on to find out more.
WHAT IS COUPLES THERAPY?
Couples Therapy is a type of psychotherapy in which the professional with clinical experience working with couples will help them gain insight into their relationship, resolve conflict, and improve their relationship.
The therapist will help the couple through their relationship and help them resolve any pain points. This process cannot be completed in one session, and you will need to do a few of them to get some progress.
It is therefore crucial for the couple to practice patience and be open to this process. Following is what you can expect from a couples therapy session.
THE BASICS
The therapist will start by asking some interview questions on your relationship. It is best to go in together so that you can hear what your partner has to say.
The therapist will want to know the basic things about the couple; from their backgrounds, how they met, and how long they have been together.
Here, both parties will be required to talk, and the therapist will be there to listen and try to figure out the cause of the problem.
IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE
The therapist will then try to assist the couple to get to the root cause of the problem. They will then help you to solve them by having a structure for treatment and goals to be achieved.
TREATMENT
Once the issue has been established, the therapist will come up with a treatment strategy.
During this phase, they will help the couple gain insights on what they are doing to maintain the problem, and help them see their different roles in these dysfunctional situations.
Once they have an idea of that, they can see what they have been doing wrong.
CHANGE OF BEHAVIOUR
Once you start going to therapy, the therapist will give you tasks to complete by the next week based on the problem they have identified.
An example is using the words sorry when you have wronged your partner and thanks after they have done something good for you. You will discuss with the therapist whether it was successful or not.
Some of the activities will involve doing some fun stuff that you and your partner were not doing before and creating time for each other.
Other tasks will entail writing things you love about your spouse and read to them while back in a session with the therapist. These tasks will help the couple change their behaviour towards each other.
It will help you as the couple change the way you perceive the relationship and each other. Being tasked with homework may not seem fun, but it will help you and your partner manoeuvre the relationship with ease.
With more of these sessions, the therapist will see whether there is an improvement or not, based on your feedback. Couples therapy is for all relationships, whether you have been dating for 20 years or a few months.
Some of the issues discussed during these sessions will include infidelity, parenting, money, gambling and conflict.
It is, therefore, something that you should try out, as it will help you and your partner be happier in the relationship.
If you are looking for professional personal counselling, Chila & Associates can assist you and can also help out with life management.
Our counselling can help you rebuild your relationships and develop the skills necessary to manage any type of crisis confronting you.
Please call us today on 03 9483 8837 or contact us through our website to make an appointment.
https://personalcounselling.com.au/contact/
