Some people rave about their marriage counseling experiences and other seem to shudder with dread at the memory of it. Why the difference? If some people have great experiences and some have terrible, what makes marriage counseling work?

If you’ve never done marriage counseling before--or even if you have--you might be wondering, 'What will marriage counseling be like?' Marriage counseling is more than just telling your problems to someone or having a third party to referee your fights. Each therapist might have a slightly different approach and that approach may change a little depending on the needs and personality of the couple sitting in front of them. In this article, I will explain what marriage counseling will be like with me, Rebecca Williams. At the end, I’ll give some thoughts on what to look for or expect if you’re considering doing marriage counseling with someone else.

In this post we’re exploring myths about infidelity. Many of these myths stem from black-and-white thinking. We often like the certainty that this kind of thinking gives us. This is good and that’s bad. It’s cut and dried. The problem is that humans and human relationships are messy and complex. When we ignore this fact, we can get stuck feeling we have few options and being unable to make sense of our lives. Black and white, good or bad, this or that doesn’t work when we’re talking about marriages and people. Let’s look at some of those myths now.

I’ve got some news for you: Not all problems in your marriage can be solved. Some can be worked through using compromise, and some just don’t have solutions. These may come from differences in personality traits, religion, political opinions, cleanliness preferences, and the like. No matter how much you talk about these things or fight about which way is right, neither of you is likely to change or to change your partner.

You have conflict with your spouse. Okay, that happens. I'm here to help you know how to you bring up marriage problems in a way that gets you listened to and not dismissed. You may have very good points or legitimate concerns but the way you talk about them with your partner sets you up to not be heard or to be easily dismissed.

Problems have been building in your marriage for a while. You try talking about it and end up fighting. You try again and end up fighting. Maybe you try to change and you try to ask for change, and you’re both still fighting and miserable. So, you gather up your courage and decide to try marriage counseling. You might hope that if you can just get in there for one session the therapist is going to convince your spouse that you have been right all along and amazing changes happen overnight. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that’s not how these things work. You need a relationship checkup.

This post will give you some things to think about if you are considering Christian marriage counseling, Mormon marriage counseling, Adventist marriage counseling, or any other faith-based marriage counselor.

Some people rave about their marriage counseling experiences and other seem to shudder with dread at the memory of it. Why the difference? If some people have great experiences and some have terrible, what makes marriage counseling work?