Marital/Couples' Issues
Healthy long-term relationships require the basic components
of compatibility, communication, and commitment. Relationships move
through stages from the initial infatuation into predictable power struggles and
eventually into deeper commitment where compromise and acceptance are found.
Many couples give up in the early stages of power struggles as they never
learned how to achieve conflict resolution. Other couples seemed to have
committed to the relationship so early that they really knew little about
compatibility and thought they communicated about all that but really didn't.
Premarital counseling is often recommended or even required by some religious
organizations in order for couples to address the areas of compatibility and
determine how they might be able to develop tools for handling their
differences.
In
the beginning, each person usually shows his/her best side and typically only
sees the best qualities of the partner. We wear blinders at these early
stages that allow us to minimize shortfalls and magnify positive traits.
Once the power struggles start, we often feel surprised by the other person's
negative traits that surface and tend to put our focus on those traits and
forget the things we enjoy about the other person. The power struggles
seem to weave their way into every area of the relationship including parenting,
and can be experienced emotionally, sexually, financially, mentally, physically,
socially, and Spiritually. Couples often seek therapy due to their
conclusions that they are incompatible in these areas when in reality, they
never learned how to talk about their differences. It is rarely the
content of the issue itself, but the manner in which it gets addressed or not,
and the degree to which each person feels cared about in that process. Of
all the things that we are required to learn in school, how to have healthy
relationships and raise children are still things that we don't require people
to learn about. The divorce rates in this country are not surprising
considering that most people have never learned the skills it takes to stay
together.
There are also relationships being played out often on an
unconscious level due to unresolved issues that each partner may have from
his/her own family of origin. Some people refer to this as the "baggage"
we bring in. We also bring in unfinished business from previous
relationships. The more baggage there is, the greater the need for
communication skills if the relationship is to survive. And many people
have unrealistic expectations that their partner can fulfill all their needs, or
that their partner will change in some way to accommodate the relationship.
Some couples have already reached a decision to end their relationship prior to
therapy and seek therapy to help them have a healthy divorce that will be the
least upsetting to their children.
At
Veritas Counseling Center, couples are provided techniques to help them
strengthen their communication skills and conflict resolution skills. They are
encouraged to focus on compatibility strengths, and taught necessary
skills to learn how to compromise around the differences. Couples are
given tools to help them embrace and enhance their commitment to each other, and
exercises that help them increase their trust levels. In addition, couples
are helped to understand how their history affects their current relationship
and how to interrupt dysfunctional patterns of interacting. Couples may be
involved in adjunct
Equine
Assisted Psychotherapy sessions that often can help them implement new
skills quickly and effectively by providing a powerful experience that can
result in immediate and lasting changes in their relationship. When
requested, the therapist also provides divorce counseling to help couples
facilitate the most positive transition for themselves and for their children.
The therapist welcomes all couples regardless of age, racial backgrounds,
marital status, stage of relationship, or sexual orientation. Unmarried
adolescent couples are seen with permission from both parental sets.
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