Whether your relationship or marriage is in trouble, or you just want to improve what is mostly a good thing, couples or marriage counseling can help. Perhaps you and your Significant Other are planning to be married soon and you want to begin this new chapter of your life with the benefit of pre-marital counseling.

Whatever brought you to this page, be grateful that it did. Taking the time to consider how couple’s counseling could positively impact your relationship is one of your best investments of your time and resources. Today, you and your Significant Other could be incredibly happy. Or, perhaps you were at one point, but now things have become tense and things aren’t working well. You’re not alone. Every relationship goes through seasons – smooth times and rocky times, easy times and tough times, good times and times where everything you thought you knew and loved seems to be falling apart. Today, almost 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Even higher is the number of committed relationships that end up in “emotional divorce.” With emotional divorce, you’re still together, technically, but you and your partner have been heading in different directions for a while.

Maybe this sounds familiar…

Ron and Toni met nine years ago as college freshmen. They married after dating for one year, then had their first child just before graduation. Ron was offered an excellent job right away which meant moving across country. They decided that Toni should stay home with their child while Ron focused on advancement in his career. They now have two children. While Ron focused on his career and Toni focused on parenting, Ron and Toni have had little time or energy left over for their relationship. The one thing they seem to have in common now is their children but even that is a source of frequent disagreement and arguments about how to raise their children. Although they still have sex occasionally, they feel disconnected from each other and they both long for the connection they once enjoyed.

Or perhaps your relationship is more similar to what Steve and Janie are going through.

Early in their relationship, sex was frequent and passionate – fun, playful, pleasurable. Steve and Janie were best friends and enjoyed everything together. Then after years of working, children and other life challenges, they are now facing a new phase of life that includes retirement. With more time and fewer responsibilities, they realize that they don’t really know each other now. Arguments have become more frequent and they have begun to avoid each other so they don’t rock the boat. In addition, Janie has gone through menopause and she has lost interest in sex. Steve, on the other hand, has noticed a change in his erections and he is very concerned about that. So they both began to avoid any touch that might lead to sexual feelings. Likewise, they both avoid talking about it. They feel distant from each other and both are afraid that their relationship is not going survive. They are at a loss as to what to do to change this and bridge the gap between them…

How satisfied are you with the current state of your relationship?

Relationships today face a multitude of pressures and challenges. These can include:

•  Communication problems
•  Emotional distance
•  Broken trust
•  Lack of physical intimacy
•  Dependency or co-dependency
•  Jealousy
•  Rejection
•  Painful pasts (before the relationship began)
•  Cheating or adultery
•  Parenting challenges
•  Fear or uncertainty about the relationship’s future

These are just a few of the common troubles that can lead to serious relationship problems, but they are all highly treatable through counseling. You might even be on pretty solid ground and want to further nurture your marriage or romantic partnership.

Whether your relationship is just beginning or has lasted for many years, relationships need to attention. Consider this: your relationship is like a garden. When a garden is tended, weeds are pulled and plants have all they need for nourishment, we see the results in bountiful harvests and beautiful flowers. But when the garden is neglected, weeds creep in and drain the nourishment from the soil that is needed by the plants. Eventually, the weeds choke out the plants and they wither and die. How much attention do we give our most significant relationship? It is easy to float along on auto pilot until something changes. But weeds creep in through unresolved disagreements and anger, through neglect or avoidance, through hidden emotions that may lead to fear, resentment or other difficult emotions that can disrupt intimacy. And then realization sets in that the relationship is in trouble or is not as healthy as we want it to be. When have you and your significant other been intentional about nurturing your relationship?

Couple’s Counseling with Marsha

When you are ready to take the first step to improving your relationship, I’m here to help. I have helped countless couples and individuals overcome difficulties and move forward to create more meaningful lives and relationships.

Some of the benefits of couples counseling are:

• Improving communication that includes speaking and listening with compassion.
• Deepening intimacy and sense of connection.
• Healing old wounds.
• Restoring trust.
• Healing shame.
• Replacing destructive patterns with loving interactions.
• Rekindling passion or finding new passion.
• Remembering how to be playful.
• Creating a new understanding for your relationship in a new phase of life.
• Beginning a new relationship through conscious dating.
• Creating a conscious relationship that is nurturing and rich for both partners.

Now that you are ready to begin, I know how important it is to have that first appointment. When you contact me, I will do my best to schedule you within that week or as soon as possible. To help with the process, please make an appointment here.

After you register through this portal, you will be asked to sign the Terms for Treatment online. When we have our first session, we will be ready to begin our work without using the time to complete a lot of paper forms. You can use this online portal to schedule or change appointments, send me secure email and to make payments by credit card. If you ever want to schedule an online session by video, you will also use this same portal for a secure video connection.

Couple’s or Marrriage Counseling offers an opportunity for couples to strengthen their ability to communicate effectively, resolve conflict and heal old wounds while consciously creating deeper intimacy.

If you are ready to begin creating a stronger, more fulfilling relationship, call me today at 336-298-1222 to schedule your first session or email me using the Contact form.