Marriage or Relationship Counseling
Whether married or not, whether
gay or straight, all folks have relationship problems from time to time.
Even family members have their share of difficulties with communication
and other issues in the relationship. Relationship counseling helps
overcome obstacles to intimacy. It helps to resolve conflicts, increase
communication skills, and to enhance relationships. In relationship
counseling people learn how to communicate more effectively, how to
respond to situations rather than react, and how to negotiate differences
rather than engage in a battle.
Relationships require that both people examine their own behavior and how it affects the relationship. Relationships are similar to dancing in that each partner may be able to dance well alone, but may have to learn new steps in order to dance with a partner. In relationship counseling the focus of the counseling is on the relationship; the relationship is the patient, not the individuals. Sometimes, however, it is necessary for individual coaching to take place, just as individual dance instruction might be necessary in order to help the couple dance more effectively together.
In relationship counseling a lot of attention is paid to how each party responds to the various issues they are confronting. There is no right or wrong way to respond; there are just different ways of responding. Some of them, however, are more effective than others and some work for the relationship and some do not. These are all issues to examined during the counseling sessions.
Crisis Counseling is problem centered for dealing with immediate, acute discomfort caused by some external event or life transition. Strategies are developed for coping with current distress.
Please click here to read "Making Your Marriage Work", an article by Dr. Dreyfus.
