marriage counseling or divorce?

Marital problems are usually very difficult to work through – when emotions, such as resentment, anger, jealousy, fear and frustration become overpowering, even maintaining civil communication becomes difficult, often impossible and the situation is not easier if one or both parties suffer in silence, without even trying to voice their concerns or their unhappiness. Fortunately, there is help available: marriage counseling Littleton CO professionals have helped lots of couples solve their marriage issues, so here are a few of the benefits of turning to an impartial, helpful and knowledgeable expert.

Learning How to Communicate Again

In most cases, communication roadblocks appear over time and our day to day routine, the stressful situations we need to cope with in our work and the related fatigue makes us unaware of the process. A marriage counselor can bring attentive and understanding communication back into the marriage, teaching the parties how to really listen to each other again.

Working Through Unresolved Issues

Marriage counseling takes place in the counselor’s office, in a safe and neutral space that makes it easier for the participants to voice their feelings and to point out issues that have been long eroding their confidence in the relationship. Venting problems is known to have great, purifying effects – we have all been through situations when we needed a friend to talk to, not necessarily because we wanted the friend to provide a solution for our problem, but because we needed someone to hear us out. The marriage counselor can be that friend – whether the issues brought up are related to finances, intimacy, childcare or other, the presence of the marriage counselor can help keep the conversation on track, not allowing any of the parties to lose focus and fall prey to emotions.

A Better Understanding of One’s Own Thoughts and Feeling

Marriage counseling is not only about understanding the partner and the dynamics of the relationship – it is also about understanding our own self better. Learning what makes you happy or unhappy, what your strengths and weaknesses are can help you understand the mistakes you have made in the past and can also help you avoid those mistakes in the future. Your partner will also participate in your process of self-understanding – we all have bad habits and unhealthy coping mechanisms that we may not be aware of, but that can sabotage our relationship and marriage counseling is an excellent way to find out about these issues and to solve them.

Avoiding the Same Mistakes in the Future

The counseling process reveals the issues that have caused problems in your marriage and by doing so it also provides you with the tools that you can use to avoid those problems in the future. Counseling is not a cure-all therapy, not every marriage is salvageable, but the process comes with great benefits for your knowledge of yourself and of your partner. If you decide to separate from your partner later, the things you have learned in therapy will help you handle the divorce in a civilized way that is free from unbearably strong negative emotions.