I am currently in the happiest and healthiest relationship of my life. My partner and I communicate well, talk through our problems, are very much in love…and we are also in couple’s therapy. It is a common notion that couple’s therapy is made for old and disinterested couples trying to save a dying marriage or a last-ditch attempt to stay together after one partner has been unfaithful. I am here to dispel those myths and stop the stigma around couple’s therapy!
What is Couple’s Therapy?
As its name suggests, couple’s therapy is simply therapy for couples! While it can take on many forms, couple’s therapy involves solving problems together with your partner and building skills to improve and strengthen your relationship, both in the present and foundationally. Some couples choose to do relationship-focused individual sessions in tandem with their joint sessions, and others prefer all meetings to be together. In either case, therapy is conducted by a skilled and compassionate couple’s therapist who specializes in healthy relationship building. Therapy is solution-focused and often centers on a specific goal or problem that the couple wishes to address together, such as improved communication or minimizing jealousy.
Who Needs Couple’s Therapy?
Anyone in any stage of a partnered relationship can benefit from couple’s therapy! Couples therapy is well-suited to any two people in a relationship who are interested in building a stronger foundation, improving their communication skills or encouraging teamwork within their partnership. In other words, if you are interested in having a healthy relationship, couple’s therapy is for you! Some use partnered therapy as a way to heal from recurring relationship issues, while others use it as a check-in or as regular maintenance to keep their relationships strong and healthy. It is accessible to people of all ages, genders and relationship types, as long as the people involved are willing to work together and want to make their relationship stronger.
Isn’t Couple’s Therapy a Last Resort?
While couple’s therapy is often used as part of healing a broken relationship, this isn’t – and shouldn’t be – the only reason to do it. Many couples, myself and my partner included, use couple’s therapy as a way to add tools to our partnership toolbox. By learning about the skills we need to communicate well, manage conflict and take care of one another, our relationship becomes much stronger overall. You do not need to be in a dysfunctional relationship to go to therapy together – in fact, therapy can prevent a relationship from becoming dysfunctional in the first place by addressing problems before they become insurmountable.
If you tried to build a house without a strong foundation, the more bricks you added, the more likely it would be to topple. Similarly, without putting in the work to build a strong foundation for your relationship, things can crumble much more easily. By lowering the stigma around couple’s therapy, barriers can be broken down for couples to try this practice of healing and togetherness. Coming to couple’s therapy before real problems arise is a great way to take care of your relationship, work together and ultimately form a stronger partnership.