Is therapy worth it for couples?
My answer is a resounding yes. However, it matters which type of counseling is used. In my own personal experience, some couples counseling can feel hopeless, shaming and have no real impact.
That is why I am so passionate about Gottman Method couples therapy as Drs. John and Julie Gottman have produced a framework analyzed with 40+ years of real client data and have found effective ways to help couples. I also appreciate that the strengths are focused on as well as the challenges.
Even if breakup or divorce is being contemplated, it is still okay to try couples therapy in order to resurrect the relationship. If things don’t work out, I believe therapy can provide necessary closure and also improve the relationship especially if co-parenting is necessary.
Some of us didn’t have good role models of healthy relationships while growing up. That makes it especially difficult when embarking on our own and trying to develop good communication, conflict resolution and listening skills. The Gottman method provides many of these skills in an easy format with gentle instruction and guidance from a trained therapist.
Through their research, typical beliefs about healthy relationships have been disproved; such as couples who fight a lot aren’t healthy. In fact, there are healthy couples who fight frequently but they do it in such a way that doesn’t create negative sentiment and repairs are done in a timely, appropriate manner.
In summary, couples therapy can offer help for relationships in any type of state and Gottman couples therapy has highly effective skills to implement throughout the entirety of the relationship. I believe we are never too old to learn new ways. If you would like to learn more and schedule couples counseling using Gottman methods, please use the contact page of this website.