Marriage Counselling
The popular web series on Amazon Prime, Mind The Malhotras showcase, the lead couple seeking professional help from a Marriage Counsellor. From discussing sexual and physical intimacy to discussing other important topics like children, in-laws, family time, neighbourhood, relatives, friends, and personality habits, highlight the fact that all these factors have some or the other influence over married couples. Identifying and working through the problems is the essence of marital counselling.
What is the process or procedure of Marriage Counselling?
Gurin, Veroff and Feld (1960) highlighted that the clients reported the advice in a marital counselling session to resolve an issue or settle a dispute was helpful. Further, the counsellor aids the clients in gaining insights into their emotional struggles and gradually restoring their confidence and love, generating healthy conditions for decision-making and cooperation.
Marriage Counseling and couples therapy entail both partners and family during the therapy process. When one person is not ready for couple therapy, even so, you can visit a professionally qualified marriage counsellor or psychologist to address your concerns as an individual. Marital counselling facilitates the couples to identify underlying conflicts and their causes, which improves their Relationship. It also helps married couples to make informed and thoughtful decisions, understand and overcome differences and enhances communication between them.
Marriage as an institution allows people to have a close intimate relationship with another person. The quality of marital life resides in the Relationship and patterns of interaction among the partners. Marital quality refers to the married couples’ subjective evaluation of their Relationship. Siji & Rekha (2018) found that the quality of marital relationships correlates with healthy adjustment, effective communication, happiness, and satisfaction.
When to visit a Marriage Counsellor?
To seek marital counsellor help is a crucial decision the couple makes. Seeking professional help is more effective than ignoring the problems or hoping to vanish one day automatically. Taking the first step is difficult. Often, people wait too long to seek help for their severed relations (Shanmugavelu & Arumugam, 2020). Understanding the need for counselling at the right time is essential so that the problems do not escalate to such a height resolution of differences and conflicts becomes quite challenging.
How does Marriage Counselling help?
Marriage counselling brings couples or partners together for joint therapy sessions. A couple learns to identify problems without playing the blame game and understand how things can improve. Marital counselling, as its key objective, tries to reduce marital disharmony. The goals of marriage counselling are as follows:
· Enhancing Open and Effective Communication
With open and effective communication, a sense of trust built in the Relationship further leads to fewer misunderstandings and conflicts. Weak communication lacks transparency results in marital discords.
· Promoting Expression
Proper expression of needs, interests, likes, dislikes, expectations and differences is essential for the awareness and well-being of self and the partner. When a person is assertive and expressive appropriately, differences can be addressed and discussed without being overwhelmed and losing control of the situation.
· Identifying Causes of Marital Disputes
Disputes are not precisely what they seem on the surface; the root cause can differ entirely from the underlying problem. When a marriage counsellor nails the exact causes of the issues, dealing with them resolves the settling of disputes and leads to a harmonious relationship.
· Conflict Resolution and Change
Every conflict adds stress and discomfort to the Relationship. Dealing and working towards the resolution requires some change and mutual effort. Changing self is essential for both partners to achieve an agreeable settlement.
· Balancing Stress and Responsibilities in the Relationship
It is essential to talk about the roles and responsibilities of each partner in the marital relationship, keeping in mind other factors such as children, in-laws, extended family, home and work, finances, and time spent together, among others. Even when the division of responsibilities is there, still are times when partners need to step in/out to make the situation easier and bearable for the other person.
· Dealing with Infidelity, Trauma, Abuse, and Violence
Issues like infidelity, trauma, and abuse may be tough to overcome. However, it is essential to return to these experiences, get through the obstacles, and seek closure. Sometimes, dysfunctional interaction can lead to violence and other potentially dangerous behaviour. Marital counselling can improve relationships by reducing the occurrence of these behaviours.
· Dealing with Familial Conflicts
Family-related conflicts are additional stress factors for a married couple. These conflicts may include issues with children, in-laws and extended family, siblings, religion and culture, and finances.
Marital counselling can help individuals and couples grow and heal. Sessions provide a non-judgmental and open space for couples to express themselves freely. Dysfunctional behavioural patterns, intimacy issues, emotional expression, and unrealistic or higher expectations deal with in the marital counselling sessions.
Dr Nisha Khanna is a qualified, experienced, and trained among the Best Marriage Counsellor with 21+ years of experience and works as a Senior Consultant in Panchsheel Enclave New Delhi and proffers online, telephonically, and face-to-face Counselling Services. If you are in Delhi, India or any other part of the World, you can approach us through any of these mediums. For details, visit Bye Tense, or call us at +91–9818211474
