Why is it that most couples end up in therapy or counseling of some variety when their marriage gets so confusing and painful that they can't bear it themselves? There is an assumption that a third party will somehow be able to save a marriage by doing some of the work. So, how does this really work for them?
Many people go into the sessions expecting someone else to shoulder some of the work of getting the marriage back on the road of happiness. This is an unrealistic expectation as no one can do the actual work that leads to the restoration of a marriage besides the married people themselves.
Yet, counseling or therapy can really work if both of you go into it with the right mindset. The problem is that most go into it with the attitude that this third party will see that they are right and their spouse is wrong. They want validation, not objectivity.
You both have things that you do completely right and other things that you are screwing up. The job of a couples therapist is to help you sort out the real issues from the futile so that you can fix this mess you mutually created.
Marital problems are always deeper than someone not taking out the trash or constantly being late for dates. What the therapist wants to do is get beneath all the squabbling and figure out what is really driving all the unhappiness and ultimately wrecking your relationship.
If you don't fix the deeper issues the marriage will only continue to unravel.
Couples who go into therapy knowing that finger pointing is useless and they both have their own flaws have a higher chance of success. Both people have to be willing to put their own defensiveness aside and just listen to one another.
A husband who flies off the handle because his wife says she is lonely may shout out that he has to work because she sits at home with the kids earning nothing. This is defensiveness that prevents him from really hearing that she is lonely. This is what doesn't work.
That is extremely hard to do, but if you can both force it at first then things will get easier. You have to remind yourself that the other person's problem doesn't always mean something negative about you. If you can do this, then chances are high that you can save a marriage through counseling.
Many people go into the sessions expecting someone else to shoulder some of the work of getting the marriage back on the road of happiness. This is an unrealistic expectation as no one can do the actual work that leads to the restoration of a marriage besides the married people themselves.
Yet, counseling or therapy can really work if both of you go into it with the right mindset. The problem is that most go into it with the attitude that this third party will see that they are right and their spouse is wrong. They want validation, not objectivity.
You both have things that you do completely right and other things that you are screwing up. The job of a couples therapist is to help you sort out the real issues from the futile so that you can fix this mess you mutually created.
Marital problems are always deeper than someone not taking out the trash or constantly being late for dates. What the therapist wants to do is get beneath all the squabbling and figure out what is really driving all the unhappiness and ultimately wrecking your relationship.
If you don't fix the deeper issues the marriage will only continue to unravel.
Couples who go into therapy knowing that finger pointing is useless and they both have their own flaws have a higher chance of success. Both people have to be willing to put their own defensiveness aside and just listen to one another.
A husband who flies off the handle because his wife says she is lonely may shout out that he has to work because she sits at home with the kids earning nothing. This is defensiveness that prevents him from really hearing that she is lonely. This is what doesn't work.
That is extremely hard to do, but if you can both force it at first then things will get easier. You have to remind yourself that the other person's problem doesn't always mean something negative about you. If you can do this, then chances are high that you can save a marriage through counseling.
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Learn more about how to save your marriage and prevent a divorce today! Click here and check out: Save Marriage or have a look at: How To Save A Marriage and see what you can do now!
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