If you’re thinking about couples therapy, it’s possible you’re feeling many strong emotions. Perhaps your relationship is on the brink of disintegration, and you and your spouse are seeking professional help as a last resort.
On the other hand, perhaps your relationship is healthy and strong, and you’re hoping to enhance your relationship through counseling.
In either case, a therapist can help.
A counselor’s office is a place where, through the nurturing and guidance of a professional, you and your partner can reach greater understanding of each other and how you function together. Every couple is doing a different “dance,” and with a counselor’s help, you can decipher your dynamic and begin to move differently.
In this blog, you’ll find a few ways couples therapy can heal and enhance relationships. Dr. Gene Devers of Philly Family Life Counseling has been providing couples therapy in Northeast Philadelphia for many years. Read his Open Letter to Couples.
How Couples Therapy in Northeast Philadelphia Helps
1. Achieve greater understanding of your partner.
I know what you’re thinking: I’ve lived with my partner with for (insert number of years here)! I know how he or she thinks.
However, you may be surprised at the thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams and fears your partner reveals during a therapy session. Sometimes it takes a trained, neutral professional to bring couples to this place of sharing, but reaching this place empowers couples to grow in understanding, compassion and connection.
2. Improve communication and listening skills.
Even couples who talk deeply and often can benefit from lessons in communication. Sometimes, one partner has a way of shutting down the conversation; other times, both partners struggle to speak openly about their feelings. Because there are innumerable ways to communicate, there are innumerable ways communication can go wrong!
Your Philadelphia couples therapist can spot patterns in the way you communicate with your partner, identifying ways you both might speak more authentically and listen more receptively.
3. Find resolutions to long-standing problems.
Every relationship is different, with unique problems arising from things like financial circumstances, extended families, parenting philosophies, personality clashes, and many other possibilities! Some problems are short-lived; others are ingrained in the very fabric of the relationship.
Couples therapy is a means of moving toward resolution of both types of problems. From inside a relationship, it can feel like you’ve already explored every solution, but a trained outsider offers a fresh perspective and the benefit of many years of experience.
4. Learn new ways to cope with mental health issues.
Anxiety, depression, addiction: If you or your partner has a mental health issue, trust that you’re not alone, and that many couples experience similar frustration and heartache.
Neither you nor your partner should have to bear the burden of a mental health issue alone. A therapist has the training and expertise to apply the most appropriate approach to whatever condition is troubling the relationship and move you both toward healing.
5. Recognize and admire what’s working.
Last but not least, it’s important to recognize what’s working about your relationship! For example, you may not realize that your temperaments fit together nicely, or that you both communicate with kindness and honesty.
Your counselor can be of service in helping you recognize, and admire, the strongpoints of your relationship, so that you and your partner can celebrate the good things and feel a stronger connection.
Contact Dr. Gene Devers of Philly Family Life Counseling Today!
Taking your first step into a counselor’s office is difficult, but worth it. Contact Dr. Gene Devers of Philly Family Life Counseling today to begin your journey: 215/677-3810. Often, you can schedule your first appointment within 48 hours.
Dr. Devers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Doctorate in Systemic Marriage and Family Therapy. Find out more about Dr. Devers.
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