First time couples

After all your efforts, you have final­ly found some­one you like and think you can be with for awhile, per­haps even for­ev­er! First time cou­ples is an excit­ing and grow­ing expe­ri­ence. Not only are you build­ing a rela­tion­ship with anoth­er per­son, but you are also learn­ing about them, their habits, and quirks. While these quirks may be adorable or cute ear­ly on, they can quick­ly turn to annoy­ing or imma­ture later—depending on your per­spec­tive and expe­ri­ences in the rela­tion­ship.

Every rela­tion­ship will expe­ri­ence con­flict, mis­un­der­stand­ings, unfore­seen chal­lenges, and changes. As you grow in this new rela­tion­ship, there are some things you’ll want to review and explore. Dr. John Gottman, a well-known cou­ples ther­a­pist and researcher has found that cou­ples can uti­lize cru­cial tools to ensure that their rela­tion­ship remains strong through­out these expe­ri­ences. These tools include:

• Build­ing a strong friend­ship
• Shar­ing fond­ness and admi­ra­tion
• Turn­ing towards each oth­er, rather than away
• See­ing each other’s choic­es with a pos­i­tive per­spec­tive
• Man­ag­ing con­flict appro­pri­ate­ly
  • Talk­ing about the issue
  • Tak­ing a break when you feel over­whelmed
  • Val­i­dat­ing your partner’s per­spec­tive
• Cre­at­ing a vision for the rela­tion­ship
• Under­stand­ing each other’s per­spec­tive and inter­pre­ta­tions of expe­ri­ences

Counseling for couples not married

Coun­sel­ing for cou­ples not mar­ried is some­thing that many cou­ples uti­lize when hard things come up in rela­tion­ships. Con­trary to pop­u­lar belief, cou­ples ther­a­py is not some­thing that you wait for until your rela­tion­ship is on its way to divorce. While many cou­ples do start cou­ples ther­a­py at this time, it is more advan­ta­geous for cou­ples to come in soon­er, rather than lat­er. Dr. Gottman, also found that cou­ples will gen­er­al­ly wait six years on aver­age before seek­ing help. Six years is a long time – it’s the dif­fer­ence between birthing a child and sign­ing that child up for kinder­garten, or your tween to become an adult, or com­plet­ing both a bach­e­lors and a mas­ters with­in that time.

So why do cou­ples wait?

Cou­ples will wait to start coun­sel­ing for cou­ples not mar­ried for a vari­ety of rea­sons. These include: one part­ner not being ready to com­mit or change, fear, stub­born­ness, lack of insur­ance ben­e­fits or finan­cial resources, fear, clin­i­cian fit, poor cou­ple com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and not think­ing the prob­lem is actually—or even—a prob­lem.

How does coun­sel­ing for cou­ples help?

Coun­sel­ing for cou­ples not mar­ried can help in piv­otal ways. These can include:

• Res­o­lu­tion of dam­ag­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion pat­terns
• Con­nect­ing with your part­ner on an emo­tion­al lev­el
• Bet­ter and more fre­quent sex
• Bet­ter com­mu­ni­ca­tion
• Improved emo­tion­al and phys­i­cal inti­ma­cy
• Gain­ing clar­i­ty about your vision for the rela­tion­ship
• Strength­en­ing your both your friend­ship and love for your part­ner
• Rec­og­nize signs and symp­toms for con­flict and know how to respond
• Mov­ing past and heal­ing from betray­al or infi­deli­ty
• Talk­ing about issues with an “unin­volved third par­ty” in a safe space

Marriage counseling Wichita Falls Tx

Cou­ples from all stages of rela­tion­ships can ben­e­fit from mar­riage coun­sel­ing. Whether you’re mar­ried, part­nered, engaged, prepar­ing for mar­riage, or sep­a­rat­ed, Bridge­Hope Fam­i­ly Ther­a­py’s online mar­riage coun­sel­ing Wichi­ta Falls TX can help. Strength­en your rela­tion­ship and enjoy some, if not all of the ben­e­fits list­ed above. Expe­ri­ence mar­riage coun­sel­ing Wichi­ta Falls TX online, from the com­fort of your home or anoth­er con­ve­nient space.

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