Managing Low Mood

Tips For Making Your Marriage Counselling A Success

18 November 2022 by Shannon Ward

Repairing a relationship can feel hard. When you feel as though you've tried everything you can on your own, you may want to try marriage counselling. When you first begin your counselling journey, you may feel as though the aim is for you to win. However, it's a process that often requires you to make concessions if you want to repair the relationship. Here are some tips for making your sessions successful.

Remain Open-Minded

Even if you and your partner are trying counselling with the shared goal of repairing the relationship, you'll need to remain open-minded. It's easy to enter the counselling process with preset ideas of what should happen. For example, you might feel as though your partner is to blame for everything that's gone wrong. However, during the counselling process, you may discover that you need to acknowledge some of your own faults. Remaining open-minded ensures your biases don't act as barriers to successful counselling sessions.

Abandon Resentment

If you've reached the stage where you require relationship counselling, there's a chance you're keeping score of each other's past wrongdoings. Keeping score can result in resentment, and unless you're ready to actively engage in forgiveness. you may struggle to move forward. Keeping score can also leave your partner feeling deflated if they've tried to make amends for previous hurts. As a result, they may feel less inclined towards making amends again in the future.

Become Uncomfortable

Many couples avoid uncomfortable discussions because they're worried about how their partner will react. Or, they might feel as though an uncomfortable topic could result in an argument. A common example of this is money. Finances can act as a huge catalyst for arguments, so you might avoid discussing them. However, if you then discover that your partner isn't acting in a way you would want them to financially, an argument happens anyway. Enter counselling with the expectation that you'll discuss uncomfortable topics. Doing so can help you clear the air and rebuild your future.

Broaden Your Horizons

Sometimes couples need to enter relationship counselling due to codependency. If you rely on your partner to meet all your needs or vice-versa, a sense of claustrophobia takes over the relationship. Before, during and after your counselling sessions, look for healthy ways to achieve a sense of happiness. This could mean having more friends, trying out new hobbies or finding other ways to enhance your well-being. Partners who rely on each other too heavily can feel suffocated and may struggle to produce a relationship that thrives.

Reach out to a marriage counselling professional to learn more.

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