What is Couples Counseling?
Looking for couples counseling in Columbus and the state of Ohio? We offer both in-person and online counseling for relationships. Couples counseling, also known as relationship therapy or marriage counseling, is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on helping couples resolve conflicts, fix relationship problems and improve their relationships. It involves working with a trained therapist who specializes in helping couples navigate through difficulties and find healthier ways of communicating and relating to each other. Most couples who use these counseling services have already tried to improve their relationships on their own, and have decided they need professional help.
The primary goal of couples counseling or relationship therapy is to improve relationship issues by facilitating open and honest communication between partners, enhancing understanding and empathy, and promoting positive change within their relationships. The therapist provides a neutral and supportive environment where both partners can express their thoughts and feelings without judgment.
There are many different types and styles of couples therapy. And many couples go to couples counseling for many different reasons. Watch the video above or continue reading for more information.
During couples counseling sessions, various issues may be addressed, including:
Communication problems: Couples may struggle with ineffective communication patterns, misinterpretation of messages, or difficulties expressing their needs and emotions.
Conflict resolution: The therapist helps couples develop constructive ways of resolving conflicts and managing disagreements, reducing the likelihood of destructive or repetitive patterns.
Intimacy and emotional connection: Couples counseling can assist partners in re-establishing emotional closeness, rebuilding trust, and fostering a deeper sense of intimacy.
Relationship dissatisfaction: Couples may seek counseling if they feel unhappy or unsatisfied in their relationships, exploring the underlying causes and identifying potential solutions.
Infidelity or trust issues: Couples grappling with infidelity or trust-related concerns can benefit from therapy to address the betrayal, rebuild trust, and navigate the path to healing.
Life transitions: Major life transitions such as starting a family, career shifts, relocation, or adjusting to an empty nest can strain a relationship. Couples counseling can help couples navigate these transitions more smoothly.
Sexual issues: Sex therapy is a form of couple therapy that specializes in helping couples navigate issues in their sex lives. This can be anything from unequal appetites, to low libido.
Any issue that affects the relationship: Obviously this list can’t contain every issue that relationship counseling can help. Contact us for more information.
Marriage counseling or couples counseling typically involves regular sessions with the therapist, either individually with each partner or together as a couple. The duration and frequency of sessions depend on the specific needs and goals of the couple. The therapist may also assign homework or provide tools and techniques to practice outside of the sessions to promote ongoing progress.
Relationship Counseling
What is generally referred to as marriage counseling is often attended by couples in crisis. However, it is also useful for couples to have a routine relationship checkup with a therapist to avoid issues that might come up, or catch issues early on.
Marriage therapy can help couples in crisis to work through issues in the relationship such as infidelity, parenting styles, finances and unsolvable conflicts.
Many issues were part of the relationship from the start, and could have been avoided had the couple used premarital counseling. Other issues are introduced after the marriage, and can bring even the strongest marriages to its knees.
Having a therapist help you through times of trouble in your relationship can get the relationship back on track much quicker. This is especially the case with tough issues like blended families, physical or emotional abuse and infidelity.
However, do not think marriage counseling is just for the tough cases. Therapists also teach communication skills that can help your marriage grow, and show you techniques that can help you have a deeper, richer relationship with your spouse.
We offer relationship therapy in Columbus, Ohio in person, and anywhere in the state via video.
Premarital Counseling
Premarital counseling, also known as premarital therapy or premarital education is a type of counseling specifically designed for couples who are engaged or planning to marry. It aims to provide support, guidance, and tools to help couples prepare for a strong and healthy marriage. This therapy is intended for people who do not have serious issues in their partnership. Couples who have issues in their relationships are a better candidate for relationship therapy instead of premarital counseling.
Premarital counseling typically involves meeting with a trained therapist or counselor who specializes in working with couples. The sessions focus on addressing various aspects of the partnership and providing couples with skills and knowledge to navigate potential challenges in their marital journey.
During premarital counseling, the therapist first assesses the couple’s strengths and weaknesses. This is often done with the help of a standardized test. The therapist will also interview the couple to understand their situation and their relationship.
Once the therapist understands the couple’s partnership, he or she will help the couple to understand their strengths and weaknesses. The therapist should help the couple build on their strengths, and minimize their weaknesses.
Often times couples get married without having talked about several important topics. These topics can include finances, religion and values, among others. When not discussed prior to marriage, these topics are like landmines waiting to explode. The therapist will help the couple talk about these important topics so each person knows what marriage will be like and so compromise around major issues can be reached before the wedding takes place.
Types of Couples Counseling We Offer
We offer many types of couple therapy. This is because each couple is different. Instead of trying to use the method we prefer and fitting your particular scenario into our method. We fit the method to your particular circumstances. This means that you will get customized care, dependent entirely on your needs.
Gottman Method Couples Therapy
One method of couple therapy that we use is Gottman Method Couple Therapy. This type of therapy is backed by over 40 years of research with couples. The method provides concrete guidelines for determining what issues a couple is facing, and how to help fix them.
Gottman method is a skills-based method, and teaches couples how to improve their relationships by learning to effectively communicate, as well as building trust and friendship. Gottman Method Couple Therapy must be delivered by licensed therapists with specialized training.
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
Another couple therapy method we use is Emotionally Focused Therapy. This evidence-based therapy is also backed by over 40 years of research.
Instead of focusing on the content of a couple’s arguments, emotionally focused therapy helps them to look at the overall pattern that they are stuck in that causes the fights. Once this pattern is identified, it can be changed, leading to a more fulfilling partnership. Emotionally focused therapy must be delivered by licensed therapists with specialized training.
Prepare/Enrich Premarital Counseling
As mentioned above, premarital counseling can be important to jump-start a lasting, loving marriage. One of the types of premarital counseling we use is Prepare/Enrich.
Preapre/Enrich is an evidence-based and widely researched tool. It helps couples to walk through a variety of topics that they need to discuss and understand about each other before making the commitment of a lifetime.
We are certified Prepare/Enrich facilitators and have received specific training in this method.
SYMBIS Premarital Counseling
Another type of premarital counseling we offer is SYMBIS premarital counseling. SYMBIS stands for Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts. This faith-based counseling is recommended by many churches throughout the United States. We offer SYMBIS premarital counseling in 6-8 sessions.
Marriage and Family Therapy
Marriage and Family Therapy is a specific type of therapy. A Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) is also a specific type of therapist license. MFTs are licensed by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board.
Marriage and family therapy views you and your situation in a holistic way. An MFT sees the family or couple as a unique and living relationship, that is greater than the sum of individuals. An MFT will also look at your situation in context. Issues are not considered issues with one person, but can stem from outside forces such as work, culture and other forces that act on the relationship.
Because we use marriage and family therapy, we do not assume that any one person is the “problem” in a couple. We also do not assume that the couple is the issue. Often, many things play into marital problems such as culture, expectations, families and work-life-balance. All of these need to be considered in context.
We offer marriage and family therapy in Columbus, Ohio in person, and anywhere in the state via video.
Assessment for Couples Counseling
Before we start with any type of therapy, we do an assessment of the couple and it’s particular needs. You wouldn’t go to a doctor and expect a prescription without getting a thorough examination. If you did, you would likely not take the medication you were prescribed.
In the same vein, you should not expect to go to a therapist and be suggested a treatment without a thorough assessment of any issues and interaction in the partnership being a part of the process.
This will allow the therapist to understand what you need as a couple based on your personal, and interpersonal strengths and weaknesses. This allows us to spend time working on only the things you need to work on. It saves time and money, and it much more effective.
And finally, offering an assessment helps us to build trust with our clients. You know that if we’ve taken the time to understand your personal situation, we see you for who you are. You are not “just another couple” to us!
Appointments Available Now
When you are hurting, it is difficult to wait weeks or even months to get the support you need. If you are on this website, it is because you want to see someone as quickly as possible. Columbus Therapy and Hypnosis offers appointments within the next week so that you can begin the healing process as quickly as possible.
Don’t want to skip work for therapy? We’ve got you covered. Evening, weekend and telehealth appointments are available now.
Who Needs Couples Counseling?
Many types of couples can benefit from couples counseling. No matter your stage in the relationship or your stage in life, you can benefit from couple counseling.
Unmarried Couples Need Couples Counseling
As mentioned above, the best time to begin counseling is before the couple has problems. This is a great time to learn how to communicate with your partner and to disagree without fighting.
Married Couples Who Want To Become Closer
Married couples do not need to be fighting constantly to seek marriage therapy. Your therapist can help you build on your relationship’s strengths. She can also help you to see potential problems before the arise and plan for them.
Married Couples Facing Challenges
The majority of couples who seek counseling are those who are facing challenges in their relationship. Often, there is a lack of communication. Sometimes one or both of the couple feel that they have fallen out of love. Your marriage therapist can help you bring your relationship back to life.
Couples Recovering From an Affair
Often, an affair can be the end of a relationship. It is one of the most difficult issues for a marriage or partnership to recover from. We are specialists in infidelity recovery. We can help both of you work through your emotions and decide if you want to remain in the relationship or move on.
Once that decision is made, we help separating couples end the relationship gracefully. Couples that choose to remain together will receive help processing the affair and recovering form the pain and mistrust that infidelity brings.
Married Couples With Mental Health Challenges
Mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD and Autism Spectrum disorder can be difficult to manage. This is true for the person going through them, but also for the person’s partner and family. If you are in a partnership and one of you has a mental health issue, your therapist can help you understand how to support each other while still caring for your own needs.
Separating and Divorcing Couples
Couples who no longer wish to be in a marriage usually do not think of couple counseling. However, this is a great time to receive counseling to help you end the relationship amicably. This is especially important if there are children involved.
Co-Parents Can Benefit From Relationship Therapy
Co-parenting is difficult enough when you are married or in a happy relationship. After the end of a relationship, it is easy to let the pain of the relationship ending get in the way of being a good co-parent with your former partner. Your therapist can help you work through these problems to be the best parents possible for your children.
Benefits of Relationship Therapy
1. Couples counseling can help resolve conflicts and improve communication.
If you’re having difficulty communicating with your partner or find yourselves constantly arguing, couples counseling may be able to help. A counselor can assist in identifying the root of the problem and providing tools to help couples get a better understanding of each other’s wants and needs. Sometimes a communication problem can look like constant fighting. At other times it looks like silence or feeling stuck. No matter your communication problem, couples counseling can help.
2. It can also help couples learn how to better deal with stress and disagreements.
Couples counseling can also help couples learn how to better deal with stress and disagreements. It can provide a space for couples to explore the root causes of their stress and disagreements. This can be an important first step in resolving these issues. Once the root causes are determined, the couples counselor can help you to understand how to help each other relieve stress and how to disagree in a healthy manner.
3. If you're considering couples counseling, it's important to find a therapist who is experienced and qualified
Couples counseling is a field unlike any other and it requires specific training. Your couple counselor should have training in a couple counseling method such as Emotionally Focused Therapy or Gottman Method Couple Therapy. Some people think that years of experience is the litmus test for a good couple counselor, but it is not. A therapist can practice for decades as an individual therapist, and still not know how to work with couples. Couples therapists who do not have training in how to work with couples can make your problems worse instead of helping you solve them.
4. Make sure you discuss your goals for counseling and what you hope to achieve
Every couple’s goals for counseling are different. Some couples want to get closer, others want to talk more. Some couples have specific problems that need solved like getting along with each other’s family or recovering from an affair. It is important that your couple counselor understand your goals so that they can help you meet them.
5. Don't wait until things have gone too far - seeking help early from a couple counselor can make a big difference
Couples tend to wait and go to couple counseling as a last resort. This is understandable because people don’t want to spend the money and take the time on something they can solve themselves. However, the sooner you get help with your relationship from a couple counselor the quicker and easier it is to fix the problem. If you are not sure if you are a good candidate for couple counseling, call and speak with a counselor. Many will offer free consultations so you can find out of they can help you before you have to spend any money.
If you’re experiencing difficulties in your relationship, marriage counseling in Columbus can be a valuable way to resolve conflicts and improve communication. It can also help you and your partner learn how to deal with stress, trauma, and disagreements in a healthier way. Before you decide to seek counseling, it’s important to find a therapist who is qualified. Be sure to discuss your goals for counseling and what you hope to achieve. Don’t wait until things have gone too far – seeking help early from a couple counselor can make a big difference. Get help now before the situation gets any worse.
Columbus Therapy and Hypnosis offers effective, evidence-based couple counseling to people in Ohio. For more information on couples counseling, please visit our website or contact us via our web form. We have a wealth of resources that can help you get started. You can also call us at (614) 245-5119 for a free consultation. We’re here to help!
Online therapy works for marriage counseling as does in-person therapy
We have found that a marriage counselor perform counseling services online just as well as in-person. The therapeutic relationship and the methods of counseling for both relationship counseling and individual therapy can be done via video to help you fit in therapy sessions around your everyday life. There is no need to wait to find time to commute to Columbus OH for a session if you are wanting to build intimacy, increase well being, decrease marital issues and reduce emotional pain.
If you are looking for Columbus marriage counseling, feel free to come into our offices for your sessions. However, no matter if you are in the Columbus area, or elsewhere in Ohio, we are happy to see you online.
Columbus Therapy and Hypnosis is a full-service therapy private practice. We offer more than just marriage counseling Columbus Ohio. For relationship or marriage counseling in Columbus, Ohio or other types of counseling including family therapy, individual counseling, EMDR and Hypnosis contact us via our web form or call 614-245-5119 for an appointment.
Contact Us Now For an Appointment
While we can’t do an appointment today, we usually have online or Columbus marriage counseling appointments available with in seven days. We service Columbus, OH as well as the greater Ohio area via online counseling.
Call: 614-245-5119
Email: yvonne@couplescounselingcolumbus.com
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