Marriage Counseling: Proactively Reinforcing on Enduring Marriage

Children may grow up believing that their relationships will be like the fairy-tale “happily ever after” ending in Disney movies, until they realize that it takes a lot of effort to make a marriage work. In real life, even the most loving and romantic couples get their own share of issues to cry over or despair about. It isn’t about losing one’s voice to Ursula or avoiding a wicked stepmom’s poisoned apple so as not to fall asleep for all eternity. It’s about resolving real problems that can rock their union and staying strong in the face of numerous challenges.

Even if these issues are small, they have to be resolved if the marriage is to last. Otherwise, they can grow to become major threats, leading to unhappiness or divorce. According to the American Psychological Association, there is an “approximately fifty percent chance of divorcing” in the United States.

There are effective ways to make your “I do” endure. You can proactively seek marriage counseling to resolve your issues and to strengthen your relationship.

The Reality: Your Marriage Has Weaknesses

Your relationship with your spouse is not perfect, and neither are you. Despite the love that binds you and the many years spent together, challenges will crop up along the way. There will be differences that can potentially breed major conflicts. There will be relationship issues, parenting concerns, financial matters, domestic conflicts, and many other things that can trigger arguments and misunderstanding. All these are normal, but they can rock your marriage and affect your family in ways you may not have imagined.

The thing is, you and your spouse are different from each other and you have imperfections. While these differences can spice up your days together, they can also ruin your marriage, if the conflicts they create are left unresolved. Be positive, though: these differences can be processed in a healthy way and make your bond stronger if you work on them proactively in counseling.

The Proactive Strategy: Marriage Counseling

In most cultures, loving couples work on making their relationships successful by themselves. In general, marriage counseling is seen an option to save a union when years of effort have failed. By then, the damage may have gone too deep, making the differences irreconcilable. To prevent this, rather than working on your issues without help, seek marriage counseling when they first arise.

What is marriage counseling? Mayo Clinic says, “Marriage counseling, also called couples therapy, is a type of psychotherapy. Marriage counseling helps couples of all types recognize and resolve conflicts and improve their relationships. Through marriage counseling, you can make thoughtful decisions about rebuilding your relationship or going your separate ways.”

Marriage counseling is effective because it is a proactive approach. It is strategic because the issues are resolved early before they have a chance to build up. If you are handling your marital issues alone without a third-party counselor and you are not effectively resolving them, it is time to consider this strategy. Seeing a marriage counselor can help you avoid an unhappy union and/or divorce.

The Benefits of Seeing a Counselor

Seeing a marriage counselor is a good decision when you or your spouse are experiencing a major life transition, you have stopped talking, or your past unresolved issues keep taking center stage in your life. It is a sound solution to embrace when your conflicts are making you unhappy or contributing to emotional conditions such as anxiety or depression. Resolving your conflicts is also important if they are affecting your children.

Counseling is worth considering even when your marital issues are simple ones. With a counselor to help you, you can stay positive as you process and manage your differences, so they do not become sources of future major conflicts. With counseling, you can also nurture your love for each other to make your relationship strong and enduring through the years, especially during the tough times. There are at least six ways for counseling to help you in this post: Six Ways a Therapist Can Help You Resolve Marital Conflict.

Start Reinforcing Your Marriage the Proactive Way

When you both said “I do” years ago, there was no doubt in your minds that you wanted to spend the rest of your life together. Don’t be discouraged when conflicts assail you; they are normal. Don’t expect them to just dissipate, either; they may not. The worst thing that can happen is for them to build up and become monstrous, engulfing the foundation of your marriage—love, trust and respect.

The perfect “happily ever after” may not come as easily for you as it does for Disney couples. You can live a happy life together with your beloved spouse, but not without effort or help. Start by working on resolving the small issues that can potentially threaten your marriage. Start by tossing away the myths, unsolicited advice, and conventional approaches that can only prolong your unhappiness. Start by being proactive. Let a third-party marriage counselor independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Sanford, NC, help you.

You may be scared to break away from conventional practices and feel uncomfortable sharing your concerns with a stranger. If you love each other, find the courage to make that call to Carolina Counseling Services -Sanford, NC. Your counselor will make it easier for you to forget what society may conventionally dictate. Focus on the benefits of your decision to seek help: a stronger emotional connection and a stronger marriage. While issues may still arise, counseling can help you resolve them as a loving, connected, and committed couple.

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