Your relationship is not in a good place and you’re losing hope. You’ve tried everything you can think of to make it better, but things are just not working. You and your partner are still committed to each other, even after all that has happened, but you need some support to make things work.

Relationships Do Not Have to be Hard

Often people are afraid to begin couples therapy for fear of hearing there’s no hope. They wonder if counseling will actually help repair the hurt in their relationship or if it will just cause arguments and further distance between them and their partner.

If you’re unsure about going to couples therapy or marriage counseling, I understand. It’s not uncommon for people to be hesitant at first. However, marriage counseling can be very beneficial. In fact, it’s important that you don’t wait to see a therapist until your relationship is just hanging on by a thread. Getting help before things get really bad dramatically improves the outcome of couples therapy.

Below I will share with you four things I want you to know about marriage counseling and working with a couples therapist at Idit Sharoni – Relationship Experts:

We’re a Group of Relationship Experts

When you’re experiencing relationship trouble, you want to see someone who specializes in providing couples therapy. A general therapist can certainly help you with your individual mental health needs. However, they don’t have the training that the clinicians at our practice have.

At my Florida couples therapy center, I have hired clinicians who share my passion may not be helping couples repair and strengthen their relationship. In fact, working with couples is all we do. Our team of marriage counselors has advanced training in couples therapy puts us in a position to truly help you and your partner create the relationship you’ve wanted. We specialize in helping partners overcome a variety of relationship challenges including:

• Communication challenges
• Conflict
• Anger and resentment
• Affairs and infidelity
• Lack of intimacy
• Trust issues

We Use a Structured Approach During Couples Therapy

If you’re researching couples therapy, you’ve likely learned that there are many different approaches used to help couples find happiness in their relationship. We’ve studied these approaches and have come up with our own structured approach. Let me share it with you:

• First, we begin with a 90-minute intake session. During this time our clinicians get to know you and your partner. We will listen as you describe your relationship and the current challenges you’re experiencing. We will also ask you about your goals for counseling and how you would like to see your relationship improve.
• Next, we provide you with a comprehensive research-based couples assessment. We use the Gottman Checkup. This will help us determine the strengths and areas of improvement in your relationship. We will use this as a roadmap for counseling.
• Then we have our ongoing counseling sessions. This is the time when we really dive in and do the hard work of repairing your relationship and strengthening bonds for the future. You will work with your therapist to learn tools to communicate better which will in turn foster intimacy and connection.
• After a number of sessions, we will do a progress evaluation to see where your relationship is at and what’s working, and what areas still need more attention. If we find that things still aren’t going well we will pivot and make modifications to our therapeutic approach.
• Lastly, we perform an end-of-process evaluation. This helps us determine if we’ve met our goals for counseling and decide on the next steps. Our last session is dedicated to leaving you with a clear maintenance plan to ensure continued lasting success after therapy is over. 

We Don’t Do “Venting Sessions”

“Venting Sessions” are those where couples only get to vent but leave without a solution. It happens when therapists let the couple fill the session time without offering real input or tools for change. Look, no relationship is perfect. A breakdown in communication can happen to any couple. As couples therapists, it is our job to give you the unique tools you can use to safely communicate with your partner. We do this in two parts:

1. We help you learn how to communicate effectively. It’s important that you feel safe talking about painful things with your partner. We will help you create a sense of safety and intimacy so you can be truly open and vulnerable with the person you love.
2. We then safely dive into helping you resolve underlying issues. This will help you move forward and navigate any issues that may harm your relationship should they arise in the future.

Our Therapists Believe That the Quality of Your Relationship Dictates The Quality of Your Life

We know that an unhealthy relationship can cause a variety of other mental health concerns like anxiety, depression, loneliness, and even trauma, and the effects of this can cause you to live an unhappy life. We don’t want that for you! Our goal is to better your relationship with the person you hold so dear so you can both feel like you have a supportive partner on your side. Our therapists want you and your partner to be able to go through life’s ups and downs with the confidence that comes from knowing your relationship can weather the storms and thrive.