Catholic Marriage Counseling
Christian Marriage Counseling: Guidance for Couples
What is Christian Marriage Counseling?
Christian marriage counseling is a specialized form of counseling that focuses on the spiritual and emotional dimensions of a marriage. Rooted in the principles of the Christian faith, this type of counseling aims to strengthen the bond between partners by promoting a deeper connection and understanding. It provides couples with the tools to navigate the challenges of married life in a manner that aligns with their values and beliefs.
In Christian marriage counseling, the counselor collaborates with the couple to identify both strengths and areas for improvement within their relationship. This process often involves developing strategies to enhance communication, resolve conflicts, and foster intimacy. Additionally, the counselor may guide the couple in exploring their individual and shared values, helping them to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s needs and desires.
Importantly, Christian marriage counseling is not solely for couples experiencing difficulties. It can also be a valuable resource for those looking to fortify their relationship and build a robust foundation for their marriage. Whether you are facing challenges or simply seeking to deepen your connection, Christian marriage counseling can provide the support and guidance you need.
Understanding the purpose and definition of Christian marriage counseling and its role in nurturing relationships.
Benefits of Christian Marriage Counseling
Christian marriage counseling offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance the quality of a relationship. Some of the key advantages include:
- Improved Communication: Effective communication is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship. Christian marriage counseling helps couples develop better communication skills, reducing misunderstandings and fostering a deeper connection.
- Deeper Connection: By addressing both spiritual and emotional aspects, Christian marriage counseling helps couples build a more profound and fulfilling connection with each other.
- Spiritual Growth: Counseling sessions often involve exploring individual and shared values, leading to spiritual growth and a deeper sense of purpose within the relationship.
- Renewal: Working through issues such as conflict and intimacy can renew a couple’s commitment to each other, strengthening their bond and enhancing their overall relationship.
- Relational Benefits: The holistic approach of Christian marriage counseling helps couples build a stronger, more loving relationship, contributing to a more satisfying and fulfilling life together.
By focusing on these areas, Christian marriage counseling not only addresses immediate concerns but also promotes long-term relational health and well-being.
Exploring the spiritual growth, renewal, and relational benefits that come with Christian marriage counseling.
Christian marriage counseling can be beneficial at any stage of a relationship, whether you are newly married or have been together for many years. Here are some common signs that it might be time to seek counseling:
- Communication Problems: If you and your partner struggle to communicate effectively, counseling can help you develop better communication skills and build a stronger connection.
- Conflict: Frequent or unresolved conflicts can strain a relationship. Christian marriage counseling provides strategies for healthy conflict resolution, helping you navigate disagreements constructively.
- Intimacy Issues: If you are experiencing challenges with intimacy, counseling can help you understand and address these issues, fostering a deeper emotional and physical connection.
- Feeling Disconnected: If you feel distant or disconnected from your partner, counseling can help you rebuild your connection and improve your overall relationship.
Seeking Christian marriage counseling early can help you address these issues before they become more significant problems, allowing you to build a stronger, more loving relationship.
Our Marriage and Family Therapists value the sacrament of marriage and family life. Marriage counseling aids in restoring, healing, and helping couples thrive. We Are Now Accepting New Couples Clients Via In-Person and Telehealth in Texas.
The decision to go to marriage/couples counseling can be difficult. It means that a couple must admit that something is not working or needs to be examined. Many marriage counselors play a crucial role in helping couples navigate their relationship issues, emphasizing the importance of seeking professional help when problems arise. Our couples counselors recognize the weight of this decision and we will affirm your desire and efforts toward healing your relationship.
Couples counseling typically involves conversations about skills to help with communication as well as addressing the emotional pain and difficulties that as a couple you have endured. Counseling can be an effective first step of growth and healing for any couple. When issues arise that cannot be resolved independently, seeking help from a marriage counselor can provide significant benefits and improve relationship satisfaction.
Couples counseling can also be preventative and assist a couple in building deep roots that can weather the expected storms to come.
When you make a lifetime commitment to someone there can be a season where you need to pause, reflect, and sometimes need outside help to grow and connect in a new way. Marriage counselors are here to get in there with you and help you enter into a new season.
Our Counseling Approaches
Developed by: Dr. Harville Hendrix & Dr. Helen Kelly Le Hunt in 1980
The goal of Imago Relationship Therapy is to transform conflict into opportunities for connection and growth.
Imago uses the Couples Dialogue to restructure communication into an effective tool that increases understanding and connection. Couples are encouraged to a Relationship Vision Statement to stay focused as they learn new skills and explore their relationship and themselves as individuals, including the real reasons we choose our partners.
Formulated by Dr. Sue Johnson and Dr. Les Greenberg in the 1980s based on attachment science
The goals of EFCT are to re-organize emotional responses, change relationship patterns, and encourage a secure bond between partners.
Developed by: Drs John and Julie Gottman
The Gottman Method of Couples Therapy is a structured approach to couples counseling, starting with an assessment and integrating research based interventions. Gottman Method starts with teaching new skills before increasing intimacy and developing a shared meaning.
The goals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy include disarming verbal conflict, increase intimacy and respect, and increase empathy and understanding.
Developed by Dr. Bill Dohtery
Discernment Counseling is a process for clarifying if a couple wants to end their relationship or commit to work through their relationship concerns together.
The goal of Discernment Counseling is to understand how the relationship got to this point what what each partner needs to be motivated to continue in the relationship or to be confident in the decision to end the relationship. We take this discernment seriously and realize there are situations where separation is the best decision.
We also provide support through the annulment process.
How to prepare for couples counseling:
When couples get into cycles that are no longer working, it is important to remember that both people influence and contribute to that cycle.
Be prepared to acknowledge your limitations as well as your partner’s. It takes openness, patience, and vulnerability to heal and strengthen a relationship.
Know that our expert couples therapists are here to guide and support you throughout your journey.
What to Expect during couples counseling:
Couples sessions are recommended to be scheduled at 75 minutes. The first initial session will be a joint couples session where the therapist can get to know you as a couple, assess your goals for counseling, and get to know your story as a couple.
After the initial session, your therapist will likely want to see both partners individually for one session.
Subsequent couples sessions will be working sessions in which your therapist will help you as a couple learn to work through issues, develop better communication skills, and work towards the healthy relationship you both want.
Results:
Married couples' results are dependent on their investment in the counseling process.
When both partners are invested and are open and honest, progress occurs quickly.
Relationships take work inside and outside the counseling room.
You need to put as much (or more) effort into your relationship as it took to arrive at the current status. Research shows that most issues take an average of x months of consistent counseling, where x is the number of years the problems existed.
We hope to restore and strengthen the marital bond and fight for marriage as the Church teaches us.
Mount Tabor’s therapists are passionate couples counselors, and they will work with you to get you to a healthy, connected, and fulfilling place.
