Marriage counseling, also called couples therapy, is a type of psychotherapy. Marriage counseling helps couples of all types recognize and resolve conflicts and improve their relationships. Through couples counseling, you can make thoughtful decisions about rebuilding and strengthening your relationship or going your separate ways. Couples counseling is often short term and includes both partners.
Why it’s done
Couples counseling can help couples in all types of intimate relationships — regardless of sexual orientation or marriage/relationship status.
Some couples seek marriage/couples psychotherapy to strengthen their partnership and gain a better understanding of each other. Psychotherapy can also help couples who plan to get married. Premarital counseling can help couples achieve a deeper understanding of each other and iron out differences before marriage.
In other cases, couples seek couples counseling to improve a troubled relationship. You can use couples counseling to help with many specific issues, including:
- Communication problems
- Sexual difficulties
- Conflicts about child rearing or blended families
- Substance abuse
- Anger
- Infidelity
