Starting Over Again with Marriage Counseling
Often couples will comment that entering into couples counseling is like starting over again. There’s a sense of newness, of meeting your partner for the first time. But how could you not know this person, especially if you’ve been married for quite some time?
Often life gets in the way. We live in a society where many people need two incomes in order to survive. Work days are longer than ever before. By the time people come home, they’re often exhausted and in “zone out” mode or having to contend with their children’s needs.
Days turn into weeks turn into years. A slow parting begins to happen and neither partner is quite sure how or when. Suddenly they feel like they are looking into the face of a stranger; someone who doesn’t really know the other on a deeper, more intimate level. This is where the problems begin. We enter into a relationship for love and support. When that person feels estranged from us, we’re not getting what we need.
When couples speak with a marriage counselor, they are often filled with anxiety. Will their marriage end? How will they bridge this seemingly hopeless divide? What they soon discover (or rediscover) is one another. The divide often isn’t as great as they feared. And the process of rejoining is pleasurable, welcoming. After all, many of these couples fell in love with one another at some point. It’s simply a matter of remembering, “emotional recall.” Then the process of counseling becomes an exciting, sometimes difficult, process of getting to know one another again…and this time, on a deeper level.
Related Posts
- Marriage Counseling & Starting off on the Right Track
- Marriage Counseling, and Starting Your Marriage Off Right
- Starting Your Time Together on a Positive Note
- The Need to Differentiate between Couples and Marriage Counseling
- Acceptance of Self and Other in Marriage Counseling
