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Has Your Marital Relationship Hit A Rocky Patch?
Is Communication Between You Both Difficult?
Has Marital Boredom Or Complacency Set In?
Do You Feel Like Your Relationship Could Be
More Fulfilling And Satisfying?
Have You Thought About Taking Action Now
Before It Could Be Too Late?
_Couples Therapy
Marriage Counseling Could Be The Answer You Have Been Looking For!
Couples who have been married 5, 10, even 30 years or more can find out that marriage counseling can rejuvenate their marriages. It can help the individuals in the relationship become more loving, sexually active, caring, spontaneous, and more.
When two people are committed to improving their marriage, then marriage counseling can be of an enormous benefit for them.
How about you? Could marriage counseling benefit your marriage?
Marriage counseling isn't just for marriages in crisis, rather marriage counseling can help any couple achieve a much more fulfilling and satisfying relationship with their spouse.
Chief benefits of marriage counselling include:
Spontaneity - A trusted marriage counselor can help couples pinpoint areas in their relationship where spontaneity can be introduced. Oftentimes, it is this spontaneity which creates a revived excitement in the marriage and helps to renew the passion couples can have for their spouse.
Sexual Activity - Children, work, health, and other issues can work together to extinguish the flame of erotic love that is so important in any marriage. Marriage counseling can help couples use their time more wisely and help challenged couples reorder their priorities for one another. The result is a much more passionate time of lovemaking which can only enhance the marriage bond.
Appreciation - Couples who appreciate each other are more likely to be loyal to one another. Long term marriages benefit from commitment, caring, appreciation, devotion, and more. Many times expert marriage counseling will reveal where thoughtful touches have become no longer a part of the marriage including no more flowers from the husband, or no more special meal served by the wife, etc.
Marriage counseling can be expensive, therefore out of the reach of many couples. Still, marriage counseling is an investment which can have enormous benefits. This is particularly highlighted if the marriage counselling leads to saving of the marriage.
There is a particularly useful strategy to use when a couple decides to work on their marriage. It is that the marriage counseling efforts deserve some rewards.
Couples involved in marriage counseling should take care to reward their own efforts to strengthen their marriage by setting aside time with their spouse. These special occasions can take the heat off the marriage counseling sessions while giving the couple a chance to reacquaint with each other in a fresh setting.
You can often breathe life into your relationship by participating in fun events with the one you love. The heat of a marriage counseling session can become overwhelming at times.
Couples who stay at it should take care to set aside special times to rejuvenate their marriages including:
Getaway Weekends - Leave the kids with the grandparents or close friends and simply get away. Drop work and family commitments by mid afternoon on a Friday and head off to a favorite weekend retreat for a weekend filled with cuddling, shopping, sexual fun, eating, relaxing, etc.
If you can't travel far, consider contacting your local hotel and requesting a honeymoon suite for the weekend. It isn't important where you go; instead the time you spend with each other is most significant.
Creating a Special Time Together – For this one you can be creative and work within a budget if needed. There are so many ideas to make this one work if you are prepared to put in a little effort. Some call it a “date night”, some call it “Mummy and Daddy time”.
Call it whatever works for you both. Here you could just set aside time on the weekend or an evening once a week, fortnight or month when the kids can be minded or for when the kids are in bed.
Create the atmosphere that suits you both for this special time. You might snuggle together and watch a video. You could have a special meal either home made or get some take away, and if you have kids ate home, for after the kids are in bed.
You could let people know you and your partner have this regular time together so they are less likely to bother you. Switch off the phone or put it to an answering machine.
Turn off the computer. Dim the lights. Play some relaxing music. Etc, etc. It would be helpful to discuss how these special times together are impacting upon the relationship when you attend your counseling sessions.
Dinner Out - Before attending a marriage counseling session in the evening, consider going out to eat beforehand. Pick a mutually favorite restaurant and enjoy your time there. Chances are you both will be much more relaxed in a great frame of mind during the marriage counseling session. Especially helpful if the sessions have been more difficult of late.
What the Other One Wants - You can reinforce your love for your spouse by going to an event you aren't particularly fond of for their sake. Guys, this could mean a drawn out shopping excursion with your wife; gals, this could mean a night at the hockey arena with your hubby.
Consider their needs above your own and you are likely going to achieve the desired affect: closeness to your spouse that not even the best marriage counseling session can provide!
The key to these strategies is spending time alone with your spouse. The cares and pleasures of this life often intrude and can diminish any marriage if it is vulnerable. By concentrating on your spouse, you can help bring healing and strength to your relationship and have a better marriage for the long run.
Clearly, this is something that is taught in marriage counseling but must be applied by the couple committed to strengthening their marriage.
If you need marriage counseling and cannot afford it, your insurance plan may actually cover or part cover several sessions with a licensed professional. Many company insurance plans now cover counseling as a part of their benefits package therefore investigating this option can reveal much to you.
Another option to consider for those of religious faiths is to consider talking with your pastor, reverend, minister etc, or other appropriate religious person in an advisory or counselling position about marriage counseling too. Not all religious heads are gifted in this area, but they may have someone on staff who is.
Oftentimes, couples may find that the marriage counseling that they need is simply a visit with another couple who understands what they are going through and can share helpful tips to guide them through a situation in their lives.
The important aspect of considering marriage counseling is to know when you need it and when it may improve a marital relationship. Consider carefully the options that would suit you both and your budget. Look for what is available and discuss together what each of you wants from it. Once this path is begun it is also significant to follow through when you begin.
Marriage counselling is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of courage, strength and willingness to make some change. If you couple the marriage counselling with a willingness to work on the relationship both within the sessions as well as outside them there will be a more improved likelihood that you will strengthen the relationship and the individuals within the marriage.