If you and your partner have been struggling with your relationship recently, it may be extremely beneficial for both of you to see a couple's therapist. There are many different methods of counseling that can be used in couples therapy. The type of counseling that you receive will depend on what your therapist has been trained in, so you may want to check what type that is before you decide which therapist works best for your situation. Here are a few of the couples therapy counseling types, along with how they may affect your relationship.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Emotion-focused therapy is when a therapist allows each partner to take turns discussing specific situations that have happened during the relationship. Each situation will be discussed and investigated to reveal what emotions each person really felt beneath the surface. Sometimes people have a hard time understanding how their partner may truly feel, especially if they don't communicate those feelings. For example, you or your partner may have reacted in anger, when in reality you were feeling hurt because of an unmet expectation. Some individuals have a really hard time identifying emotions. Therapists may offer some sort of emotional coaching to help you better understand what you or your partner are feeling in certain situations.
Discernment Counseling
Discernment counseling is a short-term method of helping a couple recognize all of their options. Discernment counseling will usually be done during a visit with a couple in which one partner wants to fight to keep their marriage going and one just wants the fighting to be over completely. It can be extremely hard on both partners when this is the case. However, a therapist can help both partners feel like they understand what all of their options are and how to move forward.
Imago Relationship Counseling
This type of therapy helps people to recognize when they are wanting something from their marriage that is actually a result of unmet childhood needs. For example, perhaps your parents were not as attentive as you needed them to be, so you feel that whenever your spouse needs personal space you are being neglected. Imago relationship counseling works really well for people who experienced childhood trauma.
In conclusion, you may feel like you know which type of counseling will work best for you and your partner, depending on what you have been struggling with. If you are not positive about what type of counseling your therapist has been trained on, you should ask them if they could help you with a specific discipline. Hopefully, both you and your partner can find peace as you work together and attend a couples therapy session.
