If you and your partner are going through a rough patch, Couples Therapy can provide you the help you need to rebuild your relationship – by resolving conflicts and establishing a healthier communication.
Couple therapy is a form of psychotherapy focused on providing necessary help to the couples in need. Also called couple counselling, it recognizes conflicts in a relationship, addresses them and improves relationships by utilizing a variety of therapeutic interventions. This particular type of therapy is beneficial for any kind of a relationship and at any stage of a relationship regardless of marital status, age or race. It can effectively address a wide range of issues a couple may experience such as: communication problem, feeling of disconnection, infidelity, in-laws, chronic health issues, infertility, anger and abuse, parenting, emotional distance and/or challenges due to external stressors etc.
Traditionally, couple counseling brings couples (spouses or partners) together for joint therapy sessions. These sessions are solution-focused and change-oriented interventions that allow involved individuals to learn the following skills, helpful for solidifying their relationship:
• Open communication
• How to discuss and address differences reasonably
Couple therapies involve various approaches to counsel a couple in need. These may include:
• Psychodynamic couple’s therapy, is aimed at helping the couple understand each other by exploring underlying hopes and fears that motivate them.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), involves identifying and working on thought patterns that foster negativity and influence behavior.
• Behavioral therapy, focuses on reinforcing positive behaviors that promote stability and satisfaction in a relation
• Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) works on the feelings of disconnection and improves emotional attachment and bonding.
• Ellen Wachtel’s approach, involves focusing on the positive aspects of a relationship and on self-reflection rather than blaming a partner.
• Gottman method, is administered to equip the couple with problem-solving skills that promote open communication, conflict resolutions, friendship and intimacy in a relationship.
At American Hospital Dubai, our Behavioral Health professionals use best practices and adopt scientifically-proven approaches when it comes to couples counselling. This increases the likelihood of reconnecting, and regaining stability and satisfaction in a relationship.
It’s is helpful for couples engaged in any kind of relationship, including:
• Couples who are dating, engaged, or married
• Couples who are otherwise happy, but feeling stuck in their relationships
• Couples engaged in interracial relationships
• Young teen or college relationships
• Relationships with a large age gap
• Couples experiencing anger or resentment, constant arguments and fighting, waning chemistry, poor communication, broken trust, commitment concerns, lifestyle or value discrepancies
• Relationships with depressed or anxious partners
Here are some of the benefits you get when you seek marriage counselling:
• It helps you understand yourself and your spouse or partner better
• It allows you to be more emotionally expressive, and you can share with your partner your feelings, hopes, fears, priorities, values, and beliefs easier than ever
• It enables you identify root causes that are leading to recurring conflicts, lack of trust, and disconnection in your relationship
• It improves your communication skills so you can talk your emotions or issues out without blaming your partner
• It resolves conflicts and issues between you and your spouse
• It strengthens friendship, attachment and intimacy between the couple
• It helps identify dysfunctional behavior, and helps eliminate them
• It’s a short-term form of therapy, unlike other traditional mental and emotional therapies
• It equips the couple with skills to help prevent and manage conflicts
• It improves the overall quality of a relationship
Couples counselling involves various sessions. The initial sessions include a probe into the history of a relationship and the background of the couple’s family, values, and culture. The initial assessment is followed by the identification of issues or conflicts, which help establish treatment goals. Based on them, the couple therapist or marriage counsellor develops a structure for treatment for each therapeutic session.
During treatment, the therapist performs the following role:
• Helps the couple gain insight into the relational dynamics that lead to a conflict
• Guides both partners to identify behaviors or roles in the dysfunctional interactions
• Alters the way the couple perceives their relationship and each other
• Helps them change their behaviors
• Enables them to handle their day-to-day interactions rationally by teaching them necessary skills
If you seek therapeutic services of a skilled couple counsellor in Dubai, we can help. Submit our online form to book an appointment with a Couple Therapist at the Psychiatry and Behavioral Health department of American Hospital Dubai.
