Marriage counseling works by helping couples identify and better navigate their unique challenges. Following an initial assessment of the couple in terms of strengths and needs, the therapist would then discuss their therapeutic goals and any possible approaches or ways of working together as therapist and couple.
Couples attend sessions together, whether they meet in person or by video. In addition to regular marriage counseling sessions, each partner may also be asked to attend a few individual sessions to supplement their progress. This will allow their counselor to get to know each individual better, assess each of their personal needs, and develop the very best treatment plan moving forward.
On average, couples attend marriage counseling for 12 weeks. However, marriage counseling may last longer or shorter, dependent on the couples' needs, the challenges they'd like to work through, and the pace of their progress. Marriage counselors and therapists at Thriveworks in Silver Spring, MD work with their clients to create goals, decide on ideal timelines, and establish treatment plans.
No matter how much you love your life partner, relationships can be hard. They take work. Disagreements happen, it’s inevitable. However, how you handle these disagreements is crucial to the sustainability of a relationship. Whether it’s how you handle an issue that happens with a child, financials, or a simple miscommunication, handling it as a team is important.
The couples counselors at Thriveworks Silver Spring in Montgomery County understand that relationships take work. We have counselors and psychologists who specialize in relationships and they want to help you and your significant other develop the tools you need for a happy and healthy relationship. Once you are equipped with the right communication skills, you and your partner can work together to make sure other issues that arise are handled correctly.
What Is Couples Counseling?
As we touched on above, couples counseling is designed to help couples resolve relationship issues, prevent future issues from arising, or teach couples how to deal with challenges that do inevitably pop up later. A few specific relationship issues that are often discussed in couple counseling include:
- Miscommunication
- Infidelity
- Intimacy issues
- Sexual problems
- Lying
- Financial blunders
These are common relationship issues, but they are not the only relationship issues. If you and your partner are facing any of the above or a different issue entirely, a couples counselor at Thriveworks Silver Spring, MD in Montgomery County can assist you in figuring out the next steps.
Five Essential Steps to Improving Your Relationship
Not every relationship is meant to last forever but giving up because you’ve hit hard times is not always the best option available. Consider these five essential steps to finding the right way to improve your relationship.
- Learn to crave communication: Most couples who find themselves in trouble have spent months or years avoiding talking about what’s really going on. In order to improve your relationship, you must start by not only being willing to talk things through, but by giving it your all. As you see this simple step improve your relationship tenfold you’ll begin to appreciate and crave it.
- Take what you’ve learned and put it into action: It’s a powerful and empowering feeling to have gotten to the bottom of your issues but self-knowledge is not enough. You must act on this new information. Come up with a game plan together and find ways you can move toward the relationship you both want.
- Give it time: Of course you want your relationship to improve immensely overnight, but unfortunately, it doesn’t typically work that way. When you get discouraged just remember this: your problems didn’t arise overnight and they’re not going to go away that quickly either. Setbacks may occur but if you keep moving forward you’ll eventually get somewhere.
- Keep your eye on the prize: It’s common for couples to work toward improving their relationship, to see results, and to then take a step back as though they’re cured. The reality is that the skills you learn should continue to be used for the rest of your relationship. Staying diligent will prevent old resentments from becoming new again.
- Make a gratitude list: There’s a reason you haven’t given up on your partner. In fact, there are probably many reasons. Don’t lose sight of them. Write down everything you’re grateful for when it comes to your partner. Ask them to do the same and then share your lists with each other. This will help motivate you to move forward together.
Schedule a Session at Thriveworks Silver Spring, MD in Montgomery County
Are you looking for Montgomery counseling for couples? If you feel like you and your life partner could benefit from discussing ways to tackle life’s obstacles and learning how to open communication lines, schedule an appointment at Thriveworks Silver Spring today. Here at Thriveworks Silver Spring, MD in Montgomery County we have a great track record of helping couples get their relationship back on track.
At Thriveworks Silver Spring we strive to create a personalized treatment plan for every couple. In this manner we try to ensure that our clients’ individual needs are met in the best way possible. At Thriveworks we accept many different insurance plans as well as offer flexible hours with weekend and evening availability. Thriveworks has a “no waiting list” policy. We want our clients to get the help they need as soon as possible, and new clients can have an appointment set up within 24 hours.
Relationships are challenging for everyone. Thriveworks Silver Spring, MD Counseling and Coaching is here to walk you through these steps and your own personalized treatment plan. Invest in your future and you’ll be grateful for the dividends. Call us today to schedule an appointment at (202) 478-9619.
