life with and can rely on when big things happen, as well as the person you can share the details of your day with.
However, no relationship is perfect and without its challenges. Sometimes significant life stresses, such as a chronic illness or job loss, can put strain on a relationship. Our family histories can also loom large as we navigate our relationships with our significant others. One thing is clear: if we’re in a relationship, conflict is inevitable, although it can also lead to growth. We just have to learn to manage it in healthy ways.
This is why many couples decide to engage in couples counseling. It can bring clarity, solutions, and other positives to your relationship.
Fortunately, at In Touch Counseling, Janelle Adams, MA, LMFT, ATR, offers couples counseling that effectively addresses the specific issues you want to work on as a couple. She approaches your journey as a couple with sensitivity and employs evidence-based strategies as she works with you and your partner.
Couples counseling can prove transformative for a couple. Once you start, there are a bevy of advantages to engaging in this type of therapy.
When you commit to couples counseling, you tackle significant relationship issues, including healing from infidelity, disconnection that occurs when we’re busy raising families, financial issues, high stress, substance misuse, abuse issues, and household equity and emotional labor challenges. Many couples come for counseling if they’re experiencing problems with intimacy.
Couples often find that getting help with communication can then improve many other areas of their life, as it’s the basis of so much.
Couples counseling addresses unhealthy behaviors that can occur in relationships. These include giving your partner the silent treatment, being explosive, consistently prioritizing work over your relationship, or constantly worrying that your partner will abandon you.
Taking the time to examine your relationship dynamics is always a good thing.
Through couples counseling, you can learn about yourself and things like why you’re triggered when your partner leaves those dishes in the sink overnight. You also gain insight into your partner's thoughts and feelings, as clarity is revealed about their intentions and hopes regarding your relationship.
Unlike an umpire at a baseball game, your couples counselor doesn’t “side” with anyone when you work together. Instead, they offer unbiased feedback in a safe space, and getting outside your own relationship “bubble” can make all the difference.
When you allow time and space for couples counseling, you start to step outside of your own head and frame of reference, and begin to better understand where your partner is coming from and their perspective.
This can be pivotal, especially when you come to counseling feeling like you have the same arguments over and over again.
One important goal of couples counseling is learning strategies that help you cope with the challenges that accompany relationships, such as periods of stress or when resentment builds.
These are important tools that can help you repeatedly throughout your relationship.
Whether a partner has been unfaithful, kept secrets about finances or an addiction problem, or some other major breach, couples counseling can help a couple restore trust in each other and forge a path for healing.
Especially if a couple has been together for many years, the flame of passion can wane, especially if they’re managing busy careers, raising kids, and more.
Couples counseling can help a couple reconnect and rediscover each other. It allows them to reflect on what initially brought them together.
A renewed appreciation for one another can lead to a better, deeper, and more meaningful connection.
If you think you’re alone in your struggles as a couple, think again. Many couples seek counseling.
The good news is that, according to one study, 99% of respondents who engaged in counseling reported that it had a positive impact on their relationship — and most couples who ended therapy did so because counseling was helpful and successful.
If you’re facing some hard times in your relationship, contact In Touch’s Camas office at 360-953-8740 or book an appointment with us online. We’re here for you.
