Marriage Counseling - Can one Person Carry it?
Diane and Pierre seemingly had it all. Pierre was a highly successful surgeon and Diane a prominent nurse known for her extensive charity work. When the two married, everyone thought it was a perfect example of a real “power couple.” Says Diane, during her first marriage counseling session:
Oh yeah. We were “it.” Invited to every function, charity event, dinner. You name it, people wanted us there. We were Mr. and Mrs. Popular in the medical community. Problem was, no one knew what was going on behind closed doors. People saw what they wanted to see. And well, we knew how to fake it, too. We were all smiles and hugs and kisses. Once we left the event, we snapped into something totally different.
Diane was deeply unhappy in her marriage. She felt that Pierre gave very little of himself emotionally and was of some “old school” where he thought that “bringing home the bacon” was enough. When Diane had children, those traditionalist ways came even more to the forefront. He did very little to help when it came to the children (they had twins!) and this put Diane over the edge. She said they either seek counseling or she’d seek a divorce lawyer.
Pierre happily attended. Diane was pleased. Until she realized he was only attending for Diane’s sake and found absolutely nothing wrong with the marriage. It took over 7 months for Pierre to admit that he could see that his utter lack of involvement was causing trouble. He slowly became more accountable and bit by bit, they accomplished goals together, without Diane’s coercion and convincing.
