Why Choose Marriage Counseling?

Aug 13

By Jay Slupesky

If you feel your marriage needs help, what should you do? You have several options from which to choose. Here are some of the alternatives.

Happy Couple You could read a book about marriage and relationships. If you search for marriage counselling on Amazon.com you will find dozens of books on the topic. A lot of these books probably have some good ideas in them (and some bad ideas as well). But once you have solved the problem of getting your spouse to read the book too, you are faced with the “one size fits all” problem: the author of the book does not know the specific and unique problems that are facing your marriage today.

You could attend a seminar or weekend retreat. These options, of course, suffer from the same “one size fits all” problem as does reading a book. How do you know if your specific issue will even be mentioned at the seminar? And what are the credentials of the persons who will lead the seminar?

You could sign up for a web-based program. Some of the advertisements for these programs say they are an alternative to marriage counseling, but in fact they are marriage counseling done remotely by internet or telephone. Why choose marriage counseling by phone when you can choose marriage counseling in person?

You could meet with a priest/pastor/rabbi, who is probably a wonderful person, and is eminently qualified to give you spiritual advice, but who has no training in marriage counselling, and who is not a licensed counselor.

And finally, you could choose marriage counseling. A marriage counselor has specific training in working with relationship problems. The counselor will get to know both of you and will hear your issues in detail. He or she will give you ideas, point out problems, and give you assignments that are specific to you. And remember that marriage counseling has been proven to be effective in drawing couples closer together. I offer marriage counseling in my San Ramon, Livermore, and Walnut Creek offices. Nearby cities include Pleasanton, Danville, Dublin, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Antioch, Brentwood, Sunol, Mountain House, and Tracy. Call me at 925-351-8447 to schedule a session.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 11:50 pm and is filed under About Marriage Therapy.

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