Couples therapy is a form of psychotherapy that caters to couples. It helps them to resolve conflicts, bridge gaps, and build stronger bonds. Couples therapy can be sought by married couples, premarital couples, or couples in any form of relationship. Based on the needs or goals of the couple, there are various types of couples therapy available.
Benefits of couples therapy
There are various benefits to seeking couple therapy. It can even help couples who have everything going well for them. Some benefits are listed below.
- Improve mutual understanding
- Improve communication
- Resolve frictions
- Learn important relationship skills
- Build trust and mutual respect
- Enhance relationship satisfaction
- Find out each other’s priorities and expectations from the relationship and future
What issues can couples therapy help with?
A relationship cannot be smooth sailing all the way out, and issues are bound to crop up. That’s where couples therapy can become the lifeboat and help save the day before it damages the relationship.
- Communication Gap
The most common problem couples face is miscommunication or a lack of communication. They cannot tune into the same frequency and may feel frustrated. They may not feel heard or understood by their partner, and in turn, they might not be listening to their partner either. Couples therapy provides a safe space to voice their sides, with the condition of actually giving each other a chance to listen. It helps to meet halfway through the journey and acknowledge your partner.
- Difference in Love Languages
Each one of us feels loved in a different way based on our experiences and preferences. It is difficult to find the perfect match for your love language, but it is possible to understand and accommodate it. Not having your love language met can make you feel unloved and unsatisfied in your relationship. Couples therapy helps you explore and discover your own and your partner’s love languages. It will also provide you with the tools to cater to your partner’s love language and communicate your own more effectively.
- Infidelity
Infidelity can be damaging to a relationship, and it can weaken the foundation. It can be hurtful to the partner and cause significant distance in the relationship. Couple therapy can help to dig deeper into the infidelity, find a way to deal with it, or amicably dissolve the relationship. It can help both partners scratch the surface and understand how they feel in this situation.
- Intimacy Issues
Sometimes the spark fizzles in the relationship, and it is important to rekindle it. Lack of intimacy can weaken the bond and make you feel distant from your partner. Couple therapy can help to find the spark again and reconnect in a novel way.
- Major Life Changes
Life changes can be overwhelming and sometimes stressful, whether it is good stress or bad stress. Relationships are also ever-evolving and changing. Individual life changes or changes in the relationship can affect individual emotions as well as the couple’s bond. Marriage, having children, moving, or changing careers are all major life events in a relationship. Couples therapy can help couples cope with these changes together.
Couple therapy techniques
The couple therapist is more than just a passive mediator in couple therapy. They use their experience and skills to execute therapy techniques to tackle the concerns. They also teach the couple skills to manage and apply their learnings outside of therapy as well.
- Learn Individual Attachment Styles
Attachment style is how an individual connects and bonds with their partner in a relationship. Attachment styles are formed as a result of life experiences, upbringing, and parenting. Incompatible attachment styles can leave both partners dissatisfied and unfulfilled in the relationship. What is worse is not knowing your partner’s attachment style and, hence, not being able to relate to it. An essential technique of couples therapy is to discover individual attachment styles and find a way to bridge the disconnect.
- Active Listening
The therapist’s prime skill is active listening and making the couple and individuals feel heard and understood. The therapist will also work towards developing listening skills within the individuals as well. It will help each of them feel heard in the relationship by their partner as well.
- Us vs Problem Thinking
Often, couples are at loggerheads because they look at the situation as “me vs. my partner.” It devolves into a blame game and an all-or-nothing ultimatum. The therapist helps the couple to view situations and problems as the entity that they are up against instead of each other. They help the couple become a collaborative team and face the issue.
Certainly, the therapist has a toolbox of various techniques and skills based on the needs. However, couples therapy can be sought to understand your partner better and connect with them better.
Note from Siraya:Mentall Wellness Centre-
If you are googling “couple therapists near me,” then your search ends here. Siraya offers excellent couples therapy to cater to all of your needs. The ease of online couple therapy can make your relationship flourish from the comfort of your home. If you have questions or want to understand couples therapy better, get in touch with the experts for a consultation call.