Starting couples therapy for the first time with your partner can be a big step toward intentionally working on your relationship. Couples choose to go to therapy together for many different reasons. Perhaps you are seeking premarital counseling to talk through some important topics before taking that next step together, or maybe you are struggling in your relationship and trying to decide whether or not to stay together. Even if you are not currently struggling or having issues in your relationship, couples counseling is a chance to build new relationship skills and enhance your relationship even more. No matter what has you seeking therapy and what you’re looking to get out of the experience, couples counseling can be a place to get support with navigating your relationship.
Couples counseling is an opportunity for you and your partner to learn new ways to relate to each other, gain insight about your relationship, and address challenges you are facing together. Couples who are not fighting or facing difficulty can still benefit from going to couples counseling as it is a chance to grow your bond even stronger and proactively address challenges that could come up in the future. Your therapist will work with you to establish treatment goals that are relevant to your relationship. Some common goals of couples therapy include: improving communication, building conflict resolution skills, healing from past relationship traumas, increasing intimacy and affection, and improving relationship satisfaction. Remember that you can always let your counselor know if there are ways they can better support you with navigating your relationship concerns – feedback is a helpful part of the counseling process. Couples counseling can help to give you some new perspectives about your relationship, create a safe space to have difficult conversations, and provide you with new tools and strategies to put into practice.
This blog post was written by Taryn O’Neil, LPC. To take the first step toward starting couples therapy, reach out to one of our licensed counselors today here.
