Relationship Counselling

Counselling individuals & couples in marriage & relationships

What is marriage counselling?

Marriage counselling is the process of helping a couple to work through difficult and painful relationship issues. Marriage counselling always addresses the couple and their relationship. In marriage counselling neither partner is the focus of therapy, the focus is on their interactions. A marital counsellor helps the couple heal and nurture their relationship. This is done by systematic, proven interventions in a safe environment. A marital counsellor is neutral and helps both partners share their versions of the issue and form goals for therapy based on their needs.

How does marriage counselling help?

Marital Counselling can help couples

• 1. Provide a platform for a confidential dialogue to explore feeling and release pent-up emotions

  2. Enable each person to be heard in a non-threatening environment

  3. Identify difficulties in the relationship

  4. Understand underlying emotions and identify disruptive patterns

  5. Reorganise emotional responses to facilitate and strengthen healthy behaivour patterns

  6. Empower both individuals to develop realistic practical solutions

Problems addressed in marriage counselling

Couples are vulnerable to issues like lack of communication, power struggles, arguments, difficulty resolving conflicts, unrealistic expectations, issues of trust, evaporating intimacy and romance, infidelity, physical or emotional violence, work-life imbalance, financial or other stressors, chronic health problems, difficulties with in-laws, infertility, couple issues related to family life cycle like new born child, difficult teenager or children leaving home.

Relationships will get strained at some time. Occasionally these strained relationships evolve into patterns of negative interactions.

Factors within the relationship include

• • Insecurity

  • Jealousy

  • Sexual problems

  • Anger

  • Ego

  • Mistrust

  • Cheating

External factors from changes in life situation

• • Work related disruptions

  • Relocation

  • Financial stress

  • Influence of other family members

Our marriage counsellors recognise that each individual in the relationship has their own unique personality, values (religious and social) and perceptions. All these are considered in the process of counselling and marital therapy.

Why do issues arise in relationships?

Most couples are likely to experience problems at some point in their relationship. Present day lifestyle and occupational stressors also make couples vulnerable to relationship issues. These issues arise due to lack of awareness and skills, repetitive maladaptive patterns, individual personality traits or individual problems like substance abuse.

Couples are usually unaware of the reasons for their strained relationship. Couple/marital counselling facilitates an insight into the dynamics of the relationship, guide couples towards recovery and stress free relationship.

Is counselling effective in other relationships?

Couples counseling or relationship counselling is not restricted to married couples. It also help couples who are

• • dating or are in a live-in relationship

  • couples planning to get married (pre-marital counseling)

  • divorced or separated couples sharing parenting responsibilities

  • same-sex (LGBT) couples

If your partner is not willing for counselling you could opt for individual counselling to address your marital issues and cope with the stress.